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ED searches held at 14 DHFL premises

By, Mumbai
Oct 20, 2019 12:38 AM IST

As part of its investigation into a loan of ₹2,186 crore to Sunblink Real Estate Pvt Ltd, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday conducted searches at the

As part of its investigation into a loan of 2,186 crore to Sunblink Real Estate Pvt Ltd, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday conducted searches at the offices of Dewan Housing Finance Limited (DHFL). The raid was in connection with DHFL’s alleged link to the late Iqbal Mirchi, who was a close aide of gangster Dawood Ibrahim.

Fourteen DHFL premises, including the firm’s headquarters in the city, were searched on Saturday. DHFL executives may be questioned for extending loans to Sunblink Real Estate Pvt Ltd, which is suspected to have facilitated routing 2,186 crore to Mirchi in Dubai. DHFL, founded in 1984 by Rajesh Wadhawan, has denied the allegations.

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According to ED, three properties are proceeds of crime. Sunblink Real Estate Pvt Ltd developed these properties after buying them from Mirchi in 2010. The deal between Mirchi and Sunblink Real Estate Pvt Limited was brokered by Ranjeet Bindra, who acted on behalf of Sunblink and is also a director of RKW Developers. RKW Developers is owned by DHFL.

In 2010, Mirchi allegedly signed agreements to redevelop these properties, for which he received 90 million dirham through a hawala transaction, according to the ED. He used this money to purchase a five-star hotel in Dubai. After Mirchi left India and was declared a proclaimed offender, these properties were confiscated by the police under the Smugglers and Foreign Exchange Manipulators Act.

ED also alleged that Mirchi had bought these properties from the Mohammad Yusuf Trust in 1986 and the trust had misrepresented before various legal courts that the properties still belonged to the trust, after which the properties were released and returned to the trust again in 2005. The ED has alleged that Mirchi used the trust as a front to negotiate with several developers.

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