
Former French embassy staff, kin charged in visa fraud case
The CBI is on the lookout for Shokeen, who is understood to have fled the country.
A CBI spokesperson said: 'We have filed a chargesheet against Shubham Shokeen, his wife Aarti Choudhary, his father Samunder Singh and his brother Abhishek Shokeen, two visa agents: Balwinder Singh Bartia and Pritpal Singh, and two middlemen: Jashandeep Singh Sidhu and Bhawan Shokeen, before the CBI court in New Delhi.'

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
&w=3840&q=100)

Business Standard
25 minutes ago
- Business Standard
SC cancels Dheeraj Wadhawan's bail in DHFL scam, asks surrender in 2 weeks
The Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday cancelled the bail granted to former Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Ltd (DHFL) promoter Dheeraj Wadhawan in a multi-crore bank loan fraud case. The court has directed him to surrender within two weeks, news agency PTI reported. A Bench of Justices Sanjay Kumar and Satish Chandra Sharma passed the order after examining a report submitted by a medical board. The SC's ruling came in response to an appeal filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), challenging the Delhi High Court's order of September 9, 2024. The High Court had granted bail to Wadhawan on medical grounds, observing that he met the definition of a 'sick person'. CBI says no serious illness During the hearing, Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, appearing for the CBI, argued that Wadhawan did not suffer from any serious illness. He further said that huge sums of money had been siphoned off in the case and urged the court to cancel the bail. Wadhawan and his brother Kapil Wadhawan, were arrested in July 2022. The CBI filed a chargesheet in October 2022, which was later taken on record by the court. The DHFL scam The case was triggered by a complaint from the Union Bank of India, which led to a first information report (FIR). The complaint alleged that DHFL, through its former Chairman Kapil Wadhawan, director Dheeraj Wadhawan, and others, conspired to cheat a group of 17 banks. The accused allegedly induced the banks to sanction loans worth ₹42,871.42 crore, much of which was misappropriated. Massive financial irregularities DHFL, once a major housing finance company in India, is now at the centre of one of the country's biggest financial frauds. According to a KPMG audit covering 2016-2019, the company disbursed over ₹29,000 crore to 66 entities linked to the Wadhawan brothers. These loans were allegedly processed without proper checks and lacked sufficient collateral. The scam also involved a fictitious "Bandra Branch" that existed only in DHFL's internal software system. This fake branch was reportedly used to route money to these shell companies. The CBI claims that thousands of fake borrower accounts were created using real customer data. These accounts were used to borrow over ₹14,000 crore and also to fraudulently claim ₹1,880 crore in interest subsidies under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, a government housing scheme for the poor. (With agency inputs)


Indian Express
25 minutes ago
- Indian Express
Delhi man shot dead near Gurgaon's Kherki Daula Toll Plaza; second shooting incident in SPR area in 3 weeks
A Delhi resident was shot dead in Gurgaon Monday night in what is the second incident involving a shooting in public in the Southern Peripheral Road (SPR) area in three weeks. The deceased has been identified as Rohit Shokeen, 39, son of Mahaveer Singh, a resident of Kamruddin Nagar in Delhi's Nangloi, which comes under the Nihal Vihar police station limits. He was gunned down off the SPR Road close to Kherki Daula Toll Plaza in Sector 77 at around 9 pm, the police said. 'The incident is believed to have stemmed from a long-standing property dispute,' a spokesperson for the Gurgaon police said early on Tuesday. 'A detailed investigation is underway to ascertain the circumstances behind the murder. A First Information Report (FIR) will be registered, and further action will be taken based on the evidence collected,' the spokesperson added. According to the police, Shokeen sustained three gunshot wounds. He was rushed to a nearby hospital after Virender Saini, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), Manesar, and multiple police teams reached the site after receiving information about a wounded man. Shokeen was declared dead on arrival at the hospital, sources indicated. Authorities have yet to make any arrests in this connection, but police teams remained at the site until at least midnight. The development comes a little over a fortnight after Haryanvi singer-rapper Rahul Fazilpuria, 35, was shot at in the Southern Peripheral Road section near Badshahpur in Gurgaon's Sector 71. He had escaped unhurt in the incident. Fazilpuria was allegedly standing near his SUV when the attackers arrived in another car and opened fire. Soon after, the singer got into his car and sped away. The attacker could not chase him due to the traffic, and he reportedly managed to escape. According to Fazilpuria, the attackers fired at him multiple times, but he was not injured and his vehicle was not damaged. Soon, the police arrested a Sonepat resident who allegedly carried out the recce for the shooting. Later, a post surfaced on social media in which a person claimed responsibility for the shooting and said it was the fallout of a financial dispute involving Rs 5 crore that the singer had allegedly not repaid. CCTV footage had also emerged of a Tata Punch car following the singer prior to the shooting.


Indian Express
an hour ago
- Indian Express
SC cancels bail granted to Dheeraj Wadhawan in loan scam case, directs him to surrender in 2 weeks
The Supreme Court on Tuesday cancelled bail granted to former DHFL promoter Dheeraj Wadhawan in the multi-crore bank loan scam case. A bench of Justices Sanjay Kumar and Satish Chandra Sharma passed the order after perusing the report filed by a medical board and directed Wadhawan to surrender within two weeks. The Delhi High Court on September 9, 2024 granted him bail on medical grounds saying Wadhawan fell within the parameters of a 'sick person'. The order came on an appeal filed by the CBI appeal against the high court order. Additional Solicitor General S V Raju, representing the agency, had earlier said said Wadhawan suffered from no serious medical ailments and huge amounts of money were siphoned off in the case. The Wadhawan brothers — Kapil and Dheeraj– were arrested in this case in July 2022. The agency filed a chargesheet in October 2022 following which a court took its cognisance. The FIR was registered on a complaint made by the Union Bank of India, which alleged DHFL, the housing finance company's then chairman-cum-managing director Kapil Wadhawan, then director Dheeraj Wadhawan and other accused entered into a criminal conspiracy to cheat the consortium of 17 banks led by the Union Bank of India, and in pursuance of the criminal conspiracy, the accused and others induced the consortium to sanction huge loans aggregating Rs 42,871.42 crore. Much of the amount was allegedly siphoned off and misappropriated by alleged falsification of the books of the DHFL and dishonest default in repayment of legitimate dues of the consortium banks, the CBI claimed.