.jpg?w=1200&resize=1200,0&ssl=1 "Religare chief Rashmi Saluja skips EOW call")
Mumbai: Religare Enterprises (REL) Chairman Dr. Rashmi Saluja is facing fresh trouble as the Mumbai Police has asked her to join the investigation in the case related to Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs) granted to her, sources said. Earlier, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had summoned her in connection with an alleged money laundering investigation.
According to sources, Rashmi Saluja was summoned by the Economic Offense Wing (EOW) of Mumbai Police on November 11 and asked to join the investigation. However, she skipped the summons. The ED had filed a case with the Matunga police, which has now been transferred to the EOW. In the FIR, the ED has alleged that the accused obtained benefits worth Rs 179 crore by acquiring ESOPs at significantly lower prices.
The EOW has already investigated a shareholder’s allegations against the Burmans’ open offer. Now, the two cases are being clubbed to death and the investigation will confirm the ED’s allegations, said a senior police official privy to the investigation. Along with Saluja, the two other senior managers of the company mentioned in the FIR were also summoned to join the investigation. We are yet to hear from them,” the source added.
Sources further reveal that the city police have contacted insurance regulators regarding the matter. In July, IRDAI Care Health Insurance Ltd. (formerly Religare Health Insurance) to buy back 7.57 million shares allotted to Saluja, the non-executive director and chairman of Religare Enterprises. Moreover, the company was fined Rs 1 crore for failing to obtain prior approval for such compensation.
On September 6, the ED filed a first information report (FIR) against Saluja on charges of criminal conspiracy and cheating, along with an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The ED is probing Rs More than 200 crore worth of ESOPs issued to Saluja by Care Health Insurance, a subsidiary of Religare Enterprises.
Earlier in August, ED conducted searches at several premises linked to senior officials of Religare Enterprises, including Rashmi Saluja, and seized several documents.
The said ED case arose out of a First Information Report (FIR) filed by Vaibhav Gawli, an office assistant, alleging that money had been siphoned off from Religare Finvest. The complaint accuses, among others, former Religare promoters Shivinder Singh, Malvinder Singh and the Burman family – who had made an open offer to acquire a 26% stake in Religare Enterprises.
However, ED found that Vaibhav Gawli was allegedly paid Rs 2 lakh and instructed to purchase 500 shares of Religare Enterprises worth Rs 1.20 lakh to become a shareholder and be eligible to file a complaint. The remaining Rs 80,000 was given to him for reporting to the police. complaint against the Burman family.
During the investigation, he further stated that the allegations against the Burman family in his complaint filed at the Matunga Police Station were not known to him and that these facts were mere reproductions of the facts stated in the papers handed over by Rashmi Saluja for filing complaints against the Burman. Family. the FIR states. He was also aware that Dr. Rashmi Saluja had siphoned off money in the form of ESOPS to M/s REL and its subsidiaries. The purpose of the said complaint and the FIR was to derail the proposed takeover of Religare and its subsidiaries and cover up the detection of illegal profits made by Saluja through the acquisition of Care Health stock options.