The CBI arrested businessman Ajay Ramesh Nawandar from Mumbai on Wednesday in connection with the Rs 34,615-crore bank fraud case involving Dewan Housing Finance Limited (DHFL), officials said.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) conducted searches at Nawandar’s premises last week and recovered a large collection of uber-luxury watches worth crores of rupees, including Rolex Oyster Perpetual, Cartier, Omega and Hublot Michael Kors, and two paintings worth Rs 33 crore, the officials said.
They said these valuable items belonged to former DHFL CMD Kapil Wadhawan and former director of the company Dheeraj Wadhawan, who allegedly defrauded banks to the tune of Rs 34,615 crore, making it the biggest such case probed by the agency.
These were allegedly purchased using the proceeds of the scam and kept at Nawandar’s premises to evade recovery and seizure by enforcement agencies, the officials said.
It has surfaced during the probe that Nawandar was acting as a conspirator aiding and abetting the Dewans to hide the proceeds of the crime and was in the process to dispose these items of when he was arrested by the agency, they said.
The CBI is focusing on the money trail and people who acted in collusion with the Dewans to siphon off public money, the officials said.
“During investigation, it was found that the (DHFL) promoters had allegedly diverted the funds and made investments in various entities. It was also alleged that the promoters had acquired expensive…
