CBI books Subhash Chandra in Rs 1,322 crore LIC Housing Finance fraud case

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has registered an FIR against Zee founder and Essel Group chairman Subhash Chandra, several companies and their directors for allegedly inflating his net worth to avail loans from Life Insurance Corporation Housing Finance Ltd (LICHFL).

The loans subsequently turned into defaults, causing an alleged loss of over Rs 1,322 crore to the public sector lender. The FIR, registered by the CBI’s Banking Securities Fraud Branch on August 31, is based on a written complaint filed by Neeta Menghani, general manager of LICHFL.

In the FIR, LICHFL has alleged wrongful loss of over Rs 1,322 crore, plus interest and charges, in relation to two loan facilities granted in 2018 and secured by personal guarantees allegedly executed by Chandra. Both facilities, the complaint alleges, were secured by letters of continuing guarantee executed by Chandra.

The first guarantee was allegedly executed on March 28, 2018, and the second on August 10, 2018. LIC Housing Finance has alleged that the loan facilities were granted on the basis of net worth certificates submitted by Chandra.

In the case of the Vasant Sagar loan, the complaint says a certificate dated March 28, 2018, showed his net worth as USD 6,197.62 million, described in the document as approximately Rs 59,113.21 crore, as of March 31, 2017.

For the second loan facility, a certificate dated July 6, 2018, allegedly showed his net worth as Rs 40,562 crore. The complaint further alleges that during subsequent proceedings relating to Chandra’s personal insolvency resolution, he denied having the net worth reflected in the certificates submitted to LIC Housing Finance.

The complaint states that he claimed his net worth in 2024 was Rs 31.79 crore, and that even in 2017-18, he did not have a net worth of more than Rs 40,000 crore. LICHFL has alleged that Chandra, acting in collusion with the borrowing entities, their officers and directors, induced the lender to advance the loans on the basis of allegedly inflated and false net worth documents.

The complaint also alleges misappropriation and misapplication of funds, and claims that assets of the personal guarantor were stripped to defeat recovery proceedings.