Rashmi Saluja, president of Religare
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted searches at the premises of Rashmi Saluja, executive chairman of Religare Enterprises (REL), and three other executives of the group on Wednesday, the company disclosed in a filing with the stock exchange. Among the other executives whose premises were searched are group chief financial officer Nitin Agarwal, group general counsel Nishant Singhal and Religare Finvest chief operating officer Chirag Jain.
The company said the searches “appear to be” rooted in the underlying offence recorded in a first information report (FIR) filed in Mumbai in 2023 for offences of fraud and criminal conspiracy to defraud REL shareholders. It said the FIR named 14 people as accused, including former REL promoters, four acquiring companies of the Burman Group that made the public offer, and members of the Burman family.
The Burman family is REL’s largest shareholder and is currently embroiled in a dispute with the company’s chairman over the change of control in the financial firm in key licenses for insurance, lending and brokerage businesses. REL claimed that the Department of Education had frozen Saluja’s ESOP shares and the three other executive shares issued by REL’s subsidiary, Care Health Insurance.
REL’s exchange filing stated that “no incriminating documents or digital devices were found or seized during the search and officials cooperated with Department of Education officials by providing them with necessary information and documents.”
REL’s board of directors was informed about the matter during a meeting held on August 23. “The entire event was discussed in detail and the board members decided to stand by the management and placed their faith and trust in them,” REL said in the bourse filing.
Earlier this month, the Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) had granted a stay till a final decision was taken on the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai) order against Saluja over the allotment of ESOPs. The tribunal had also imposed restrictions on Saluja, prohibiting it from exercising any pending ESOP allotted by Care Health or diluting its shares till a final decision was taken.
First published: August 23, 2024 | 19:39 IS
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