CBI court lets ED take custody of builder Avinash Bhosale in Yes Bank-DHFL case

Mumbai: A special CBI court on Monday allowed the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to take Pune builder Avinash Bhosale, 61, into custody from Arthur Road jail, where he is lodged after his arrest by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in connection with Yes Bank-Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Ltd case.

Special prosecutor for ED, Sunil Gonsalves on Monday produced a production warrant obtained from the special PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002) court and urged the special CBI judge S U Wadgaonkar to let the agency take custody of Bhosale in connection with the money laundering probe.

On May 26, CBI arrested Bhosale, the promoter of the Avinash Bhosale Infrastructure Ltd. (ABIL) and the father-in-law of Maharashtra minister and Congress leader Vishwjit Kadam, in the Yes Bank case, primarily involving DHFL and its promoters Kapil Wadhawan and Dheeraj Wadhawan.

According to CBI, between April and June 2018, the bank invested ₹3,983 crore in short-term non-convertible debentures or “masala bonds” of DHFL and later sanctioned a term loan of ₹750 crore to a DHFL group firm. In return, the then Yes Bank managing director and chief executive officer Rana Kapoor allegedly received a kick-back of ₹600 crore from the DHFL in the form of a loan to his family firm, Do It Urban Ventures (India) Pvt. Ltd.

In its May 27 request to seek Bhosale’s custody, CBI said investigators allegedly found that in 2017 and 2018, DHFL paid Rs. 68.82 crore to Avinash Bhosale group companies for consultancy services such as architectural, construction planning and financial advise for three construction projects of builder Sanjay Chhabariaa, also arrested in the case, and one project of Sudhakar Shetty.

“But, no such services were provided and the entire payment was obtained by companies of Shri Bhosale without performance of any work / service,” said the remand application, adding that Radius Group of builder Sanjay Chhabariaa also diverted ₹292.50 crore after getting loans of ₹2,000 crore. “M/s Sumer Radius Realty diverted the said amount to M/s Nibodh Realty LLP and ABIL Dairy, companies of Shri Avinash Nivrutti Bhosale,” it said.