The Central Bureau of Investigation has registered an FIR against Essel Group chairman Subhash Chandra and three others over an alleged Rs 1,322-crore fraud involving LIC Housing Finance, officials said on Saturday. The case concerns two loans totalling Rs 980 crore that the lender alleges were secured using inflated net-worth certificates and later defaulted.
New Delhi | September 5, 2026
According to the FIR reported by Economic Times, the complaint relates to a Rs 500-crore facility extended to Vasant Sagar Properties Pvt Ltd, with Pan India Infra Projects Pvt Ltd as co-borrower, and a Rs 480-crore facility extended to Digital Subscriber Management and Consultancy Services Pvt Ltd, with Spirit Infra Power and Multi Ventures Pvt Ltd as co-borrower.
The Rs 500-crore facility was sanctioned as a home entity loan for takeover, top-up and business expansion. It was secured by a continuing guarantee dated March 28, 2018, allegedly executed by Chandra. The Rs 480-crore facility was sanctioned as a rental discounting facility under a rental securitisation scheme and was also secured by a continuing guarantee from him, the FIR alleged.
LIC Housing Finance told investigators that a net-worth certificate submitted for the Vasant Sagar facility, issued by DIM & Co on March 28, 2018, placed Chandra’s net worth at about Rs 59,000 crore. Another certificate issued by MPJ & Co on July 6, 2018, placed his net worth at Rs 40,562 crore for the Digital facility, according to the complaint.
The FIR alleges that Chandra later gave substantially different figures during proceedings under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016. It said he placed his net worth in 2024 at Rs 31.79 crore and stated that his net worth in 2017-18 was no more than Rs 40,000 crore. Investigators have alleged that false documents were created to inflate his net worth and induce LIC Housing Finance to release the funds.
The complaint further alleges that Chandra acted in collusion with the borrower entities and their officers and directors, and that the loan funds were subsequently misappropriated. The allegations have not been tested in court. There was no immediate reaction from Chandra or the other accused named in the FIR.
The CBI action comes three days after Chandra opposed the constitution of a five-member bench of the National Company Law Tribunal to hear his personal insolvency case. Earlier this week, the special NCLT bench stayed approval of a repayment plan after noting that the earlier decision did not have a clear majority. It also restrained Chandra from alienating any asset.
The tribunal proceedings followed a split verdict. NCLT judicial member Nilesh Sharma, acting as a third member, had approved Chandra’s repayment plan under Section 114 of the IBC and rejected objections from dissenting lenders. The plan proposed Rs 6.25 crore from Chandra personally as guarantor, alongside Rs 1,494 crore to be paid separately by the principal borrowing companies.
Creditors holding 80.8 per cent of the voting share supported the plan, while LIC Housing Finance, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, Canara Bank, RBL Bank and Union Bank voted against it. LIC Housing Finance said that against admitted claims of about Rs 22,006 crore, the plan offered only Rs 6.25 crore to creditors and was therefore unviable and unlawful. The next steps will depend on the CBI investigation and further proceedings before the NCLT.
