Add as a preferred source on GoogleIndia’s ED Opens Money-Laundering Case Tied to LIC Housing Loans
The case follows a CBI investigation into a lender’s complaint. A separate tribunal decision made changes to a proposed repayment plan a condition of approval.
India’s Enforcement Directorate (ED) has opened a money-laundering case against Essel Group chairman Subhash Chandra over loans he guaranteed, adding a criminal investigation to a separate insolvency dispute over repayment to creditors.
The ED case follows a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) case stemming from a complaint by LIC Housing Finance. LIC Housing Finance extended two loan facilities to Vasant Sagar Properties Private Limited and Digital Subscriber Management and Consultancy Services Private Limited, backed by Chandra’s guarantees.
LIC Housing Finance alleged that defaults on the facilities caused it a loss. Its complaint also alleged that net-worth certificates helped secure the loans. Those claims are allegations; neither the ED case nor the CBI investigation establishes wrongdoing by Chandra.
The criminal investigation is separate from insolvency proceedings concerning Chandra’s personal guarantees. In that case, LIC Housing Finance objected to a proposed repayment that would amount to about 0.029% of its admitted claim. The plan also proposed payments to creditors and for process costs against total admitted claims of about ₹22,006.57 crore.
In its Aug. 25 ruling, the NCLT said the plan could proceed after the creditor list and payment allocations were revised. The proposed distribution may change after those steps.
A Zee Entertainment spokesperson said the matter concerned Chandra and promoter entities and had no bearing on the company’s operations.
Riza Dagoc
Riza Dagoc reports on regulation, investing and the digital-asset business for TokenPost. Send corrections or tips to info@tokenpost.com.