DHFL auditor Grant Thornton finds another fraud of Rs 1,424 crore

DHFL on Friday said its administrator has filed additional affidavits in the NCLT Mumbai in connection with fraud amounting to over Rs 1,424 crore. The company, which is undergoing a corporate debt resolution process in the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), is being run by an administrator in the aftermath of IL&FS crisis in 2018 and unearthing of massive fraud in the company.

The administrator of the company has appointed Grant Thornton (GT or transaction auditor) to conduct investigation into the affairs of the company.

The administrator of the company received an initial report from the transaction Auditor, indicating that there are certain transactions which are undervalued, fraudulent and preferential in nature, DHFL said in a regulatory filing.

"Basis the investigation and observations of the transaction auditor, the administrator has filed two additional affidavits (to the two already filed applications) before the Mumbai bench of the NCLT on March 4, 2021, in respect of disbursements made to certain entities as inter corporate deposits (ICDs), against Kapil Wadhawan, Dheeraj Wadhawan, Township Developers India Ltd. and entities to whom ICDs were given," DHFL said.

As per the findings of GT, the estimated amount involved in the fraud places monetary impact of the concerned transactions at approximately Rs 1,424.32 crore (which includes Rs 29.94 crore towards notional loss of interest on account of charging lower rate of interest), said the company.

The concerned transactions occurred during 2017-18 and 2018-19.

The company keeps on informing about such findings from time to time. Various such frauds have been unearthed by GT including the recent one in the last month involving fraud of over Rs 6,180 crore.

As of July 2019, the beleaguered home financier owed Rs 83,873 crore to banks, National Housing Board, mutual funds and bondholders/retail bondholders.

Of the total, the secured debt stands at Rs 74,054 crore and Rs 9,818 crore in unsecured debt. Most banks have declared DHFL accounts as non-performing assets.