New Delhi: Stepping up its probe into high-profile financial irregularities, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has registered a First Information Report (FIR) against Essel Group chairman and media baron Subhash Chandra along with several others, concerning an alleged ₹1,322-crore fraud involving LIC Housing Finance Limited (LICHFL).
The case, lodged by the CBI’s Banking Securities Fraud Branch following a detailed complaint by LICHFL General Manager Neeta Menghani, centers on allegations that Chandra submitted heavily inflated net-worth certificates to secure two major corporate loans totaling ₹980 crore in 2018. The credit facilities subsequently defaulted, accumulating total outstanding losses exceeding ₹1,322 crore for the public sector lender.
According to the regulatory filings and the official complaint, the first credit facility of ₹500 crore was extended to Vasant Sagar Properties Pvt Ltd (with Pan India Infraprojects Pvt Ltd as co-borrower) for business expansion and debt takeover. This was secured by a continuing personal guarantee executed by Chandra on March 28, 2018. To back this facility, a net-worth certificate issued by DIM & Co on the same day valued Chandra’s net worth at approximately ₹59,113 crore.
The second facility of ₹480 crore was extended to Digital Subscriber Management and Consultancy Services Pvt Ltd (with Spirit Infrapower and Multiventures Pvt Ltd as co-borrower) under a rental securitisation scheme. This was backed by another net-worth certificate issued by chartered accountants MPJ & Co on July 6, 2018, valuing his net worth at ₹40,562 crore.
The core of the criminal complaint highlights a stark contradiction between the financial figures presented to secure the loans and those disclosed during subsequent legal proceedings. LICHFL informed investigators that during recent personal insolvency proceedings under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), Chandra disputed these earlier evaluations. He reportedly stated that his net worth in 2024 stood at just ₹31.79 crore and asserted that his net worth during the 2017–18 fiscal year did not exceed ₹40,000 crore.
The CBI has accused Chandra, alongside the borrowing entities and their directors—including Pankaj Suroliya, Amish Pandya, and Rajeev Dholakia—of criminal conspiracy, cheating, and criminal breach of trust. The federal agency alleges that the accused colluded to induce the housing finance major by deploying false documents representing a fictitious financial standing, subsequently resulting in the misapplication and misappropriation of loan funds.
The development compounds legal troubles for the Essel Group founder, coming on the heels of separate personal insolvency proceedings before the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT). A special five-member NCLT bench recently put a contentious ₹6.25-crore personal repayment plan on hold and restrained Chandra from alienating his assets, after dissenting lenders flagged the proposal as unviable against admitted claims totaling over ₹22,000 crore.
Neither Subhash Chandra nor representatives of the accused entities have issued an immediate official response regarding the registration of the CBI FIR.