ED freezes $5.41 million deposit in DHFL money-laundering probe

The Enforcement Directorate has frozen a bank deposit of around Rs 51.75 crore in its money-laundering investigation into the Rs 34,615-crore DHFL loan fraud case. The agency said the funds represented proceeds of crime linked to transactions involving a UK property

New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has frozen a bank deposit of $5.41 million as proceeds of crime in connection with the ongoing money-laundering investigation arising out of the Rs 34,615 crore bank loan fraud committed by M/s Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Ltd (DHFL) and its promoters, according to an official statement issued on Friday.

The amount was frozen after a search operation against DHFL on Aug 19 under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002. Investigation has revealed that a foreign property — Hurtmore House in the United Kingdom, held in the name of Vanita Wadhawan, wife of Kapil Wadhawan, was disposed of through a series of transactions involving the creation of a fictitious liability in her name. A purported loan agreement was executed between M/s Al Jalore Trading FZE and Vanita Wadhawan, and the UK property was mortgaged pursuant thereto.

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Investigation has revealed that the arrangement was used to create an encumbrance over the foreign asset for the purpose of settling a liability in India arising out of the DHFL loan fraud.

The property was subsequently sold in 2026, and the sale consideration was directed to the bank account of M/s Al Jalore Trading FZE maintained in India, instead of being received by the registered owner, Vanita Wadhawan. The transaction, thus, involved dissipation of proceeds of crime, utilisation and disposal of a foreign asset in a manner intended to facilitate settlement of an Indian liability through a structured transaction involving foreign property and entities.

During the search proceedings, the bank account of M/s Al Jalore Trading FZE was examined, and an amount of approximately $5.41 million (around Rs 51.75 crore) found in the account, representing proceeds of crime, was frozen under Section 17(1A) of the PMLA, 2002. Other incriminating documents and records relating to the transactions and assets under investigation were also seized during the search proceedings.

ED initiated an investigation into the case based on an FIR registered by the CBI, AC-VI, New Delhi, pursuant to a complaint filed by Union Bank of India on behalf of a consortium of 17 banks. FIR mentions that the accused persons, including Kapil Wadhawan and Dheeraj Wadhawan, entered into a criminal conspiracy to cheat the consortium banks, which had sanctioned credit facilities aggregating to Rs 42,871.42 crore to DHFL. The loan funds were siphoned off and misappropriated through falsification of the books of accounts of DHFL, resulting in a wrongful loss of approximately Rs 34,615 crore to the consortium lenders.

Further investigation is still in progress in the case, the statement added.