Real Estate Tycoon Arrested by CBI in Yes Bank-DHFL Fraud Case Sold London Hotel While in Jail: Report

The deal was executed barely two months after Bhosale’s arrest by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on May 26, 2022, in connection with the alleged DHFL–Yes Bank loan fraud.

The Wire Staff

The deal was executed barely two months after Bhosale’s arrest by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on May 26, 2022, in connection with the alleged DHFL–Yes Bank loan fraud.

real estate tycoon arrested by cbi in yes bank dhfl fraud case sold london hotel while in jail report

The CBI logo. Photo: X/@CBIHeadquarters.

New Delhi: Real estate tycoon Avinash Bhosale, who is one of the main accused in the multi-crore Yes Bank-DHFL fraud case, allegedly sold a hotel in London for Rs. 1,432 crore bought with money from proceeds of crime (PoC) while he was in judicial custody.

The deal was executed barely two months after Bhosale’s arrest by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on May 26, 2022, in connection with the alleged DHFL–Yes Bank loan fraud, with the deal taking place when Bhosale was already lodged in judicial custody, reported the Free Press Journal.

The property that was sold is a premium hotel and commercial asset located at 5 Strand, Trafalgar Square in Central London, originally acquired in 2018 for around Rs 1,000 crore by Flora Development Ltd, a UK- based subsidiary firm of Avinash Bhosale Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd.

It was sold in August 2022 for £150 million (approx. Rs 1,432.5 crore, inclusive of VAT) to London Hotel Holding Ltd.

The London asset was originally acquired in 2018 through Flora Development Ltd, a UK-based firm that was allegedly controlled by Bhosale. The firm functioned as a subsidiary of the ABIL Group. The property was positioned as a future 200-room world-class luxury hotel.

According to a CBI chargesheet filed in 2021, central agencies have alleged that the funds used for the purchase were part of the PoC in the Yes Bank–DHFL loan fraud case.

While the sale is estimated to have generated a profit of Rs. 432.5 crore over and above the property's value, it has raised suspicions in ED and CBI circles that the proceeds of crime were laundered under the guise of a legitimate asset sale, said the FPJ report.

So far, the ED has provisionally attached assets worth over Rs 164 crore linked to Bhosale and the ABIL Group in connection with the DHFL–Yes Bank scam.

Note: This report has been updated to remove the line stating that ABIL had not responded to FPJ after its lawyers contacted The Wire noting that they have.

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