By Ankur Mishra
Markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has sought a transaction audit report from Dewan Housing Finance Corporation (DHFL), sources in the know of the matter told FE. The administrator for DHFL, R Subramaniakumar, had earlier ordered three transaction audit reports by Grant Thornton to examine the suspicious transactions of the company in the past. The final transaction audit report has taken longer than estimated due to the ongoing lockdown, the source said. “The report will be shared with the regulator, as soon as it is available,” he further said.
The administrator had told lenders in a committee of creditors’ (CoC) meeting on March 12 that certain past transactions of the troubled mortgage lender may be ‘avoidance’ — a term used for preferential, undervalued, extortionate or fraudulent nature of transactions. According to sources, the view of the administrator was based on the initial Grant Thornton report.
In a CoC meeting held on May 12, administrator told lenders that DHFL is providing the relevant information sought by investigative agencies in an ongoing probe. The CBI had taken erstwhile board members of DHFL, Kapil and Dheeraj Wadhawan, in its custody last month. The CBI is probing the role of the Wadhawans regarding allegations that DHFL received Rs 3,700 crore of loan from Yes Bank by paying bribes to erstwhile promoters of the private bank. The Wadhawans were also being probed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in another criminal case linked to late gangster Iqbal Mirchi.
The Reserve Bank of India on November 20, 2019 superseded the DHFL board and appointed R Subramaniakumar as administrator. DHFL is undergoing insolvency proceedings at the National Company Law Tribunal, Mumbai.