The Enforcement Directorate has registered a money laundering case against media baron Subhash Chandra over an alleged loan fraud that caused a Rs 1,322 crore loss to Life Insurance Corporation Housing Finance Limited (LICHFL), officials said on Monday.
The case has been filed under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, taking cognisance of a CBI FIR. Chandra is alleged to have inflated his net worth to obtain the loans and then defaulted. A comment from him was awaited.
The CBI case followed a complaint by LICHFL, which alleged that Chandra submitted net-worth certificates used to secure approval and disbursal of two loans totalling Rs 980 crore.
According to the complaint, a Rs 500 crore facility went to Vasant Sagar Properties Private Limited with Pan India Infra Projects Private Limited as co-borrower, and a Rs 480 crore rental-discounting facility went to Digital Subscriber Management and Consultancy Services Private Limited with Spirit Infra Power and Multi Ventures Private Limited as co-borrower. Both were secured by continuing guarantees executed by Chandra in 2018.
LICHFL said the certificates, issued in March and July 2018, put his net worth at about Rs 59,000 crore and Rs 40,562 crore.
During insolvency proceedings, the CBI FIR says, Chandra denied having the net worth stated in those certificates and put his net worth in 2024 at Rs 31.79 crore.
The lender is among those that approached the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal against an NCLT repayment plan allowing creditors to recover only about Rs 6.5 crore from Chandra's personal estate against claims of roughly Rs 22,006 crore.
(With inputs from PTI and media reports)