SFIO probing Fortis, Religare for alleged frauds: Minister

In the last four financial years, the corporate affairs ministry has ordered investigations through the SFIO into the affairs of 575 companies on account of alleged frauds.

The Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs is probing Religare Enterprises and its group company Fortis Healthcare for alleged frauds, Union Minister PP Chaudhary said on Friday.

Fortis Healthcare’s promoters Malvinder Singh and Shivinder Singh have been alleged to take at least $78 million out of the company without any board approval about a year ago. (Parveen Kumar/Hindustan Times)

Moreover, companies linked to Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi groups are under the scanner too, the minister of state for corporate affairs said in a written reply to Lok Sabha.

The development comes in the wake of an over Rs 13,000 crore fraud at the state-run Punjab National Bank (PNB).

In the last four financial years, the corporate affairs ministry has ordered investigations through the SFIO into the affairs of 575 companies on account of alleged frauds. This included probe in 258 companies in the ongoing financial year (till March 15, 2018), Chaudhary added.

The latest development comes against the backdrop of reports that Fortis Healthcare’s promoters Malvinder Singh and Shivinder Singh took at least $78 million out of the company without any board approval about a year ago.

A multi-agency probe is already underway into the PNB fraud which was mainly perpetrated by way of fraudulent Letters of Undertaking (LoUs).

According to the minister, investigations by SFIO have not unearthed any nexus between bureaucrats and corporate houses for the purpose of committing corporate frauds as of now.