The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested Dheeraj Wadhawan, the former director of DHFL (Dewan Housing Finance Limited), in connection with a bank fraud case amounting to Rs 34,000 crore, officials confirmed on Tuesday.
Wadhawan was apprehended in Mumbai on Monday and presented before a special court in Delhi the following day, where he was remanded to judicial custody.
As per the allegations put forth by the central probe agency, Dheeraj Wadhawan, along with his brother Kapil, is accused of orchestrating a fraud involving a consortium of 17 banks, amounting to Rs 34,000 crore. This incident marks one of the largest instances of banking loan fraud in the country.
Both brothers had previously been arrested in July 2022 and subsequently charge-sheeted by the CBI in the same year. However, they were granted "statutory" bail by the special court in December 2022, a decision that was upheld by the Delhi High Court.
However, upon the CBI's appeal, the Supreme Court overturned these bail orders, citing a "serious error of law" committed by both the Special Court and the High Court.
Meanwhile, Dheeraj Wadhawan had secured interim bail on medical grounds in a separate matter from the Bombay High Court, as he was undergoing treatment at the Lilavati Hospital. The Bombay High Court granted regular bail in that case on May 2 and extended his protection from CBI arrest for an additional week.
The charges leveled against the Wadhawan brothers include criminal conspiracy (120-B), criminal breach of trust (409), cheating (420), falsification of accounts (477A) under the Indian Penal Code, and criminal misconduct by a public servant under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
