Indiabulls Housing Finance falls 6% on Rs 98,000-cr siphoning charge

Indiabulls Housing Finance, Indiabulls Integrated Services, Indiabulls Ventures and Indiabulls Real Estate were down 6% to 10% on the BSE in intra-day trade today.

Shares of all listed Indiabulls Group companies were under pressure, falling up to 10 per cent on the BSE during the early morning trade on Tuesday after media reports alleged Indiabulls Housing Finance Limited (IHFL) for misappropriating Rs 98,000 crore of public money.

“A plea was filed in the Supreme Court Monday seeking legal action against Indiabulls Housing Finance Limited (IHFL), its chairman and directors for alleged misappropriation of Rs 98,000 crore of public money,” news agency PTI reported.

Following the news reports, the stock of IHFL slipped 6 per cent to Rs 691 apiece on the BSE. Lakshmi Vilas Bank, which proposed to merge with the company, slipped 7 per cent to Rs 68 per share on the BSE.

Stocks of other Indiabulls Group companies including, Indiabulls Integrated Services and Indiabulls Ventures tanked 10 per cent each at Rs 229 and Rs 261, respectively, while, Indiabulls Real Estate dipped 6 per cent to Rs 120 in intra-day trade today.

The petition alleged that money worth thousands of crore were siphoned off by Sameer Gehlaut, the chairman of the firm, and the directors of Indiabulls for their personal use.

Abhay Yadav, the petitioner and one of the IHFL shareholders, alleged that Gehlaut, with the help of one Harish Fabiani - an NRI based in Spain, allegedly created multiple "shell companies" to which IHFL loaned huge sums of money under "bogus and non-existent pretexts", added report.   CLICK HERE TO READ FULL REPORT

Refuting charges of misappropriation of around Rs 98,000 crore by Gehlaut and other directors, Indiabulls Housing Finance late on Monday evening said that the allegation is "bizzare" and is meant to malign the reputation of the company.

"The total loans on the books of Indiabulls Housing are approx Rs 90,000 crore. The allegation of siphoning-off Rs 98,000 crore is bizarre," the company said in a regulatory filing. CLICK HERE TO READ FULL RELEASE