Can Fin Homes: A Whistleblower, A Transfer And A Recruitment Scandal

Four days before that, on October 26, the company's Managing Director Suresh Srinivasan Iyer and Deputy MD Vikram Saha had received an email from said whistleblower about these alleged malpractices. The complaint alleged misdoings by a General Manager at the housing financier, which included manipulating documents to hire certain individuals and undue pressure on his subordinates.

Within a few hours on the same day, the complainant was handed a transfer order, where he was asked to move to a branch in Hyderabad. What's more? The order was handed to him by the same GM who was the subject of the complaint.

In his letter to the board, the whistleblower claimed that the transfer was punishment for raising the issue in the first place. NDTV Profit has reviewed the whistleblower letter and has confirmed its veracity.

Four days before that, on October 26, the company's Managing Director Suresh Srinivasan Iyer and Deputy MD Vikram Saha had received an email from said whistleblower about these alleged malpractices. The complaint alleged misdoings by a General Manager at the housing financier, which included manipulating documents to hire certain individuals and undue pressure on his subordinates.

Within a few hours on the same day, the complainant was handed a transfer order, where he was asked to move to a branch in Hyderabad. What's more? The order was handed to him by the same GM who was the subject of the complaint.

In his letter to the board, the whistleblower claimed that the transfer was punishment for raising the issue in the first place. NDTV Profit has reviewed the whistleblower letter and has confirmed its veracity.

According to a person in the know, the whistleblower has alleged that the accused GM placed undue pressure on the HR team at Can Fin Homes and influenced final decisions on hiring. The complainant is also said to have alleged that the GM was involved in manipulating interview scores for potential employees, to favour certain individuals he wanted to hire.

Such interference has led to appointment of over 30 interview candidates favoured by the said GM, the person quoted above said.

The October 26 letter itself followed two personal meetings in August between members of the company's HR team and the senior management where the concerns were relayed. However, these meetings did not lead to any action.

Following the letter to the board, an investigating officer was appointed by the board. This officer, of the Assistant GM rank from within the HR department, was entrusted with verifying the allegations made by the whistleblower.

The investigation was concluded in under two months, with the investigator finding nothing material to recommend against the accused GM. According to the person quoted above, the matter was subsequently closed in the last week of December.

According to the first person quoted above, the appointment of an AGM to investigate allegations against a GM they report to might be a questionable decision.

A second person, with an understanding of the board's decision-making process, defended this call. According to this person, the investigator's appointment was fair, since he is a senior officer with immense experience in the field, and was therefore appropriate to consider certain nuances.

The second person quoted above said that the complainant's transfer was not a punishment, and was requirement-based. Since the Hyderabad branch required an officer with certain specific skills, the transfer was appropriate, this person said.

To be sure Can Fin Homes does have a whistleblower policy, which dictates how such complaints are to be dealt with. The policy calls for complete confidentiality of the complainant, if they request it. It also requires that the accused not interfere in the investigation.

"No adverse penal action shall be taken or recommended against an employee in retaliation to his/her disclosure in good faith of any unethical and improper practices or alleged wrongful conduct," the whistleblower policy states.

The complainant has now forwarded the case for further investigation to the Reserve Bank of India, National Housing Bank and the finance ministry, the first person quoted above said.

According to the company's annual report for FY24, Can Fin Homes had 1,055 employees, which included 903 permanent employees.

Queries sent to Can Fin Homes, Canara Bank, RBI and NHB on Friday remained unanswered.

This is not the first time that the Can Fin Homes board has dealt with allegations of impropriety. In May 2022, the company's board was faced with another whistleblower letter claiming that fraudulent IT returns were being provided by some borrowers to avail home loans. The complaint was originally received by NHB, which forwarded it to Can Fin Homes board's audit committee.

Upon investigation it was found that there were 37 accounts in the company's Bhilwara branch, where fake ITRs were submitted with the loan application. The amount involved in such loans added up to Rs 3.93 crore.

Similarly, in July 2023, Can Fin Homes disclosed to the exchanges that its internal teams had detected fraudulent misappropriate of funds worth Rs 38.53 crore at its Ambala branch. The company had then filed an FIR with the local police.