DHFL case: Auditor Grant Thornton unearths another fraudulent transaction of Rs 6,182 crore

NEW DELHI: Dewan Housing Finance Corporation (DHFL) on Monday said its transaction auditor, Grant Thornton, has reported another fraudulent transaction of Rs 6,182 crore in the company.

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

"As per the transaction auditor report shared with the administrator, the monetary impact of the above transactions covered under the application amounts to Rs 5,381.90 crore towards outstanding principal, Rs 589.36 crore towards accrued interest and Rs 210.85 crore towards notional loss of interest on account of charging lower rate of interest," said the filing about the estimated impact on the company.

Further, the estimated amount involved in this fraud transaction places the monetary impact at around Rs 6,182.11 crore (which includes Rs 210.85 crore as notional loss of interest), said the company.

According to findings of Grant Thornton (GT), these transactions happened over a period of time. The management of DHFL is currently being run under an administrator appointed under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code after frauds were detected in the company.

The administrator later on appointed GT as the transaction auditor to conduct investigation of the affairs of the company.

Basis the investigation and observations of the Transaction Auditor, the Administrator has filed an application before the Mumbai bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on February 20, 2021 in respect of disbursement made to certain entities as other large project loans, against Kapil Wadhawan, Dheeraj Wadhawan, Creatoz Builders Pvt Ltd, Ikshudip Fincap Pvt Ltd, Rite Developers Pvt Ltd and certain other entities.

DHFL said the application to NCLT has been filed against 33 respondents, including Kapil Wadhawan, Dheeraj Wadhawan, Creatoz Builders, Ikshudip Fincap, Rite Developers and certain other entities.

It is to be noted that further filings may be undertaken, in due course, the company said. The stock of DHFL was trading at Rs 18.05 apiece on BSE, down 4.75 per cent from its previous close.