NEW DELHI: India’s Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday launched multiple raids and a widespread probe, under its Prevention of Money Laundering (PMLA) act, into the unlawful diversion of more than Rs 2,000-crore from leading non-banking financial company (NBFC) Religare Enterprises Limited (REL) and its subsidiaries, coinciding with the September 25, 2023 open offer to hike investment into this company by the embattled Burman family — the promoters of the Ayurveda major Dabur India group — that is now facing a betting racket investigation by the Mumbai Police.
ED sleuths swooped down on several offices including real estate major M3M India Holdings,RHC Holding Pvt Ltd, Hillgrow Infrastructure Pvt Ltd, and Dion Global Solutions, leading to seizure of 19 mobile phones, memory cards and several electronic devices on the alleged involvement of company’s former directors — Malwinder Singh and Shivinder Singh.
ED officers also visited the three offices of Religare Finvest Limited (RFL) and seized documents on business transactions from corporate offices in Gurgaon and Connaught Place.
ED’s probe into Religare operations is based on 2019 FIR by Delhi Police as well as a fresh complaint that has directly named Punjab’s Radha Soami Satsang Beas chief and the head of Amritsar-based sect head Gurinder Singh Dhillon, also known as Babaji, for allegedly illegally benefitting, conspiring and diverting funds more than Rs 1000 crores from Religare allegedly in connivance with former REL directors Malvinder Singh and Shivinder Singh before 2018, the officials confirmed.
“We are trying to ascertain all details regarding diversion of the money, between 2017 and 2018, as well as the charges if the money now being invested by the Burman family is being routed from anywhere else, including and not limited to any beneficiaries of Religare and RFL in the past. The probe will require interrogations of several people from past and present acquisitions bids,” a top ED official told The New Indian.
READ MORE: Online betting FIR By Mumbai Cops: Dabur owner Burmans named accused
ED officials also confirmed that the money laundering probe may be expanded to cover any recent or past business transactions done by the Burmans and the Singhs with other companies in their individual capacities.
Hours after the raids were completed on diversion, the Religare management wrote to the National Stock Exchange of India (NSE), intimating them about the ED raids to expedite the investigation against the Burmans.
The New Indian has accessed the January 6, 2024, communication sent by Religare.
It reads, ”Pursuant to Regulation 30 of the listing regulations, we wish to inform that the Enforcement Directorate (ED)officials, basis a complaint made by Religare Finvest Limited, wholly owned subsidiary company of Religare Enterprises Limited (REL/Company) and in an ongoing investigation with respect to Corporate Loan Book, visited some of the premises of RFL on January 05, 2024 and collected relevant information/ documents to expedite the investigation. The information and documents as advised were provided / submitted to the officials of the authories — Reena Jayara (company secretary), Religare.”
The New Indian ,had in October, reported how a complaint by the Religare management and its board to Delhi Police has contended that the money from the company was siphoned off into six companies Best Healthcare Private Ltd, Modland Wears Private Ltd, Fern Healthcare Private Ltd, Devera Developers Pvt Ltd, Green Line Buildwell Pvt Ltd, and Adept Lifespaces Pvt Ltd allegedly between 2017-2018.
A detailed break-up of this diversion can be found in The New Indian’s story below.
READ MORE: EXPLOSIVE: SEBI starts probe on Burmans of Dabur amid “Radha Soami’s monies” accusations
While the Burmans and the firm J M Financial, engaged by them to increase its stake into REL by another 26 %, have refused to give categorical replies by The New Indian on their links with the Dhillons or on SEBI’s massive probe into the allegations of tax frauds or financial malpractices in siphoning off bank loans or diversions, ED sources said that it may summon honchos of all advisory firms as well.
The probe by the ED comes at a time when Burman family of Dabur Group has already come under scrutiny of Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI) over charges of manipulating the share prices of Religare.
The Dabur Group promoters Burman family – brothers Mohit and Gaurav Burman — were in November named in an FIR in Mumbai on charges of illegal betting and money laundering in a case related to Mahadev app betting scandal.
Separately, the SEBI is already probing charges of share manipulation and “hostile takeover” by the Burman family.
“It has been pointed out earlier, that the Burman Group acquired a 7.5% stake in the company (REL) through a block deal worth Rs 533 crore on August 16, 2023 which increased their stake from 14 % to 21.5 % in the company. Notably, the 7.5 % stake was bought by the Burman through Investment Opportunities V PTE, which in turn, had bought these shares from Resilient India Growth Limited in January 2021, which had bought these shares from the Dhillon Group (Gurinder Dhillon of Radha Soami Satsang in Beas) in December 2017. Therefore, it’s the shareholding of the Dhillon Group that has been finally acquired by Burman which further reveals nexus between acquirers with Dhillon & Singh brothers,” the SEBI complaint had said.
The Burman family, on the other hand, has only mounted attack on Religare’s Rashmi Saluja, the executive chairperson of REL for acquiring a stake of around 8 % in company’s subsidiary Religare Finvest Limited (RFL) through an Employees Stock Option Plan (ESOP) award, a charge that Religare has so far declined.