The Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted searches on several premises linked to Religare Finvest Ltd (RFL) in connection with an ongoing probe into alleged misappropriation of more than ₹2,000 crore. RFL, a financing company’s parent, is under investigation for fraud by the former promoters of Religare Enterprises Ltd. The ED, which is investigating the money-laundering aspect of the case, searched nine locations in the National Capital Region, covering the corporate offices of RFL and other related companies. RFL has requested expedited probe and has commissioned a forensic audit to trace the siphoned off funds.
The money laundering case against the erstwhile promoters of Religare, Malvinder and Shivinder Mohan Singh, and its former chairman and managing director Sunil Godhwani, is based on a case registered by the Delhi Police’s Economic Offences Wing. The ED had previously arrested the Singh brothers and Godhwani in October 2019 and they are currently out on bail.
The ED searches come at a time when RFL’s managing director, Rashmi Saluja, is involved in a bitter takeover battle for Religare Enterprises with the Burman family who are the promoters of Dabur India. The Burman family has alleged regulatory violations by Saluja and aims to gain management control of Religare Enterprises through an open offer. During the ED raid, the issue of compensation was raised.
In a separate case, based on a court order, the Mumbai Police registered a case of match fixing and betting against 32 people including Dabur Group chairman Mohit Burman and director Gaurav Burman. Dabur has refuted the allegations and called it an attempt to block the acquisition of Religare Enterprises. The main accused in the case are the promoters of the Mahadev Book, Sourabh Chandrakar and Ravi Uppal, who are accused of running illegal betting applications and having links to bookies involved in match fixing in cricket leagues. The complainant in the case has claimed an aggregate revenue loss of ₹15,000 crore to state entities due to illegal betting by the syndicate.
