The Enforcement Directorate has arrested the CMD of Dewan Housing Finance Ltd (DHFL), Kapil Wadhawan, in connection with its money laundering probe against deceased gangster Iqbal Mirchi and others, officials said on Monday.
They said Wadhawan, 46, has been arrested under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) as he was allegedly not cooperating in the probe and was "untrustworthy" in his dealings and statements made to the agency.
Wadhawan was arrested after questioning during the day at the agency office at Ballard Estate here.
He was on Monday produced before the designated PMLA court which remanded him in the ED custody till January 29.
The court accepted the agency's arguments that Wadhawan's remand was necessary as he was aware of the transactions and payments made towards purchase of the three properties in Worli in central Mumbai allegedly owned by Iqbal Mirchi.
"Kapil Wadhawan, being chairman and managing director of Dewan Housing Finance Ltd (DHFL), had visited London along with a city-based real estate broker to meet Iqbal Mirchi in 2010. He has been instrumental in siphoning off huge amounts of money as part of the illegal deal between Mirchi and the Wadhawans," the ED said in its remand note.
"Kapil Wadhawan played a very crucial role in the nefarious transactions by way of money laundering. He diverted huge funds from DHFL to shell companies which was then transferred to Wadhawans-owned Sunblink Real Estate Pvt Ltd," the agency said. The case relates to Mirchi's Mumbai properties, which have been called as proceeds of crime by the ED.