Care Health Insurance chairwoman Rashmi Sarja is in a battle with the Burman family over the takeover of Religare Enterprises, where she also serves as chairman of the board.
The ED has registered a fresh case in the Religare-Dabur case based on a First Information Report (FIR) registered by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Mumbai Police. A predicate offence is mandatory for the ED to investigate money laundering offences.
The Mumbai Police had received a cheating case in November last year following an order from a local court, following which the case was transferred to the EOW for investigation.
In the Mumbai police case, Religare Enterprises shareholder and plaintiff Vaibhav Gawli has named Davar Group chairman Mohit Burman and his family, as well as two former Religare promoters, Malvinder Singh and Shivinder Singh, among 14 defendants in the case. Burman’s open offer manager, JM Financial, is also a defendant.
“The investigation has just begun and is still in its initial stages. All aspects of the allegations are being examined and the independent directors have been asked to participate in the investigation,” an official familiar with the development said. The ED’s investigation will examine whether the allegations made by the complainant are indeed true and whether there is a case of money laundering in the open offer. A person summoned under Section 50 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) can choose to represent himself through a legal representative at the time of the first summons or seek time to appear in person at a future date. The three non-executive independent directors summoned are SL Mohan, Asha Nair and Hamid Ahmed.
Mohan stepped down from the Care Health Insurance board a few months ago while Ahmed is also an independent director on the Religare Enterprises board.
The company has been asked to provide details of all employee stock option plans (Esops) issued by Care Health Insurance since financial year 2019.
The agency has also sought details of board and statutory approvals relating to Esops.ET has seen a copy of the ED notice.
“This (offence) does not constitute an offence under the PMLA,” a person familiar with the matter said.
Scheduled offences are those acts listed in the PMLA.
I emailed Care Health Insurance but received no response.
Last month, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai) had directed Care Health Insurance to buy back 7.56 million shares allotted to chairperson Rashmi Sarja at the same exercise price of 45.32 rupees per share, citing violations of rules.
