DHFL Directors scammed thousands of crores under PMAY: CBI

The Central Bureau of investigation has unearthed a scam linked to the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY). The CBI has registered a case against crisis-hit Dewan Housing Finance Limited (DHFL) promoters Kapil and Dheeraj Wadhawan, who are already in jail over money-laundering charges. The CBI said that Wadhawans created fake and fictitious home loan accounts amounting to over Rs 11,755 crore. The CBI FIR says that they availed Rs 1,880 crore in interest subsidy based on these fake loans from the National Housing Bank with connivance of  officials of NHB. The agency has registered an FIR on March 15 of this month.

According to the agency, the Wadhawans told investors that it had processed 88,651 loans under PMAY and received Rs 539.4 crore in subsidies. It said that Rs 1,347.8 crore was due. The PMAY - a central scheme to ensure housing for all - was announced in October 2015.Under the scheme housing loans granted to people from Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) and those from Low and Middle Income Groups are eligible for credit-linked interest subsidy.The subsidy is to be claimed by financing institutions - like DHFL - that have granted these loans. Forensic audits revealed that Kapil and Dheeraj Wadhawan had opened 2.6 lakh fake housing loan accounts - several of which were under the PMAY scheme and claimed interest subsidies as per its rules - in  a non-existed  Bandra branch of the organisation. Between 2007 and 2019 'loans' amounting to Rs 14,046 crore were sanctioned to these accounts, the CBI has alleged, of which Rs 11,755.79 were deposited to other fictitious firms.