New Delhi, August 28, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has frozen a bank deposit of approximately Rs 51.75 crore in connection with its money-laundering investigation into the alleged Rs 34,615-crore bank loan fraud involving Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Ltd (DHFL) and its promoters.
According to an official statement issued on Friday, the action followed a search operation conducted against DHFL on August 19 under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002. The agency said the frozen amount, approximately $5.41 million, represented proceeds of crime.
The investigation has traced the transaction to Hurtmore House, a property in the United Kingdom held in the name of Vanita Wadhawan, wife of DHFL promoter Kapil Wadhawan. According to the ED, the property was dealt with through a series of transactions involving the creation of a fictitious liability in Vanita Wadhawan’s name.
A purported loan agreement was executed between M/s Al Jalore Trading FZE and Vanita Wadhawan, against which the UK property was mortgaged. The ED said the arrangement was used to create an encumbrance over the foreign asset to facilitate settlement of a liability in India arising from the DHFL loan fraud.
The property was subsequently sold in 2026, with the sale proceeds directed to the Indian bank account of M/s Al Jalore Trading FZE instead of being received by Vanita Wadhawan, the registered owner.
The agency said the transaction resulted in the dissipation of proceeds of crime and involved the use and disposal of a foreign asset through a structured arrangement involving overseas property and entities.
During the search, investigators examined the bank account of M/s Al Jalore Trading FZE and froze the approximately $5.41 million under Section 17(1A) of the PMLA. Other documents and records relating to the transactions and assets under investigation were also seized.
The ED case stems from an FIR registered by the CBI’s AC-VI, New Delhi, following a complaint filed by Union Bank of India on behalf of a consortium of 17 banks.
The FIR alleges that Kapil Wadhawan, Dheeraj Wadhawan and others conspired to cheat the consortium, which had sanctioned aggregate credit facilities of Rs 42,871.42 crore to DHFL. According to the allegations, loan funds were siphoned off and misappropriated through falsification of DHFL’s books, causing an estimated wrongful loss of Rs 34,615 crore to the lenders.
The ED said further investigation is in progress.
FOLLOW NOW
