Dhani Services, Sunny Leone and identity theft allegations. All you need to know

The Indiabulls Group is in the news again, and for all the wrong reasons. Shares of group company Dhani Services Ltd have slumped in recent days after social media was abuzz with allegations that there had been a mass identity theft and data breach at the fintech platform.

As a result of the alleged breach at Dhani Services—formerly known as Indiabulls Ventures Ltd—PAN card details of hundreds of people had been exposed and unaccounted-for loans had been taken in their names, impacting their credit histories. 

From where did the alleged data theft happen?

The data theft allegedly happened on the Dhani app, which requires a user’s PAN card details and address proof to secure a loan. 

Who all were allegedly scammed?

Several hundred people including actress Sunny Leone and journalist Aditya Kalra, took to Twitter saying their PAN details had been compromised and that loans had been taken using their identities by unknown individuals. Apart from the PAN details, most of the customer details were not genuine. 

“Shocking revelation in my credit report. A loan disbursed by IVL Finance with my PAN number and name, addresses in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. I have no clue. How can a disbursal happen on my name and PAN,” Kalra said on Twitter.

Bollywood actor Leone also claimed to be the target of identity theft on the fintech platform Dhani. “This just happened to me. INSANE. Some idiot used my Pan to take a 2000 RS loan and F****d my CIBIL score (sic),” she said, referring to her credit score.

Several users have tagged the Dhani app, the Reserve Bank of India, the finance ministry and cyber-crime authorities explaining they have been a victim of a large identity theft.

Several users posted on Twitter that they never applied for any loan from the Dhani app and yet were receiving calls from the company representatives to pay back the amount.

How has the stock market reacted to this news?

On Tuesday, shares of Dhani Services were locked in the 20% lower circuit for the second straight day at Rs 82.80. On Wednesday, too, the counter was down almost 10% to Rs 74.50 apiece. 

At these levels, the stock is down more than 80% from its 52-week high of Rs 380, reached on March 2, 2021. 

Have any large investors also exited Dhani recently?

Yes, on February 7, overseas investor Tamarind Capital Pte Ltd sold 10 million shares of the company at a price of Rs 153 per share via a block deal on the BSE.

On February 18, Dhani Services informed the stock exchanges that Tamarind Capital and its affiliate Jasmine Capital Investments Pte. Ltd had collectively reduced their stake by 2 percentage points to 6.27% from 8.27% earlier. These entities had sold these shares between February 4 and February 17, the company said.

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