SEBI had levied a fine of Rs 25 crore on Ambani, Rs 27 crore on Bapna, Rs 26 crore on Sudhalkar and Rs 21 crore on Shah.
Reliance Group Chairman Anil Ambani is facing more challenges as the SEBI has issued a notice demanding that Reliance Home Finance and six associated companies pay Rs 154.50 crore. SEBI alleges fund mismanagement and has given these entities a 15-day deadline to settle the dues. If they fail to comply, SEBI warns it may seize their assets and bank accounts. The notice includes companies such as Crest Logistics, Reliance Unicorn Enterprises, Reliance Commercial Finance, and Reliance Broadcast Holdings, following previous penalties left unpaid.
Sebi Notices To RHFL
Sebi on Wednesday sent demand notices to six entities, including Reliance Home Finance’s promoter entity, asking them to pay Rs 154.50 crore for diversion of funds from the company. The regulator has warned these entities for attachment of assets and bank accounts if they fail to make the payment within 15 days.
Those who have been sent notices are Crest Logistics and Engineers Pvt Ltd (Now Known as CLE Pvt Ltd), Reliance Unicorn Enterprises Pvt Ltd, Reliance Exchange next Ltd, Reliance Commercial Finance Ltd, Reliance Business Broadcast News Holdings Ltd and Reliance Cleangen Ltd.
The demand notices came after these entities failed to pay the fine imposed on them by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) in August. In six separate notices, the markets watchdog directed these six entities to pay Rs 25.75 crore each. This includes interest and recovery costs within 15 days.
In the event of non-payment of dues, the market regulator will recover the amount by attaching and selling the moveable and immovable property of these entities. Besides, they face attachment of their bank accounts.
In August this year, Sebi had barred industrialist Anil Ambani, 24 other entities, including former key officials of Reliance Home Finance from the securities market for five years for diversion of funds from the company.
Sebi Rs 25 crore Penalty On Anil Ambani
Sebi has imposed a penalty of Rs 25 crore on Ambani and restrained him from being associated with the securities market including as a director or Key Managerial Personnel (KMP) in any listed company, or any intermediary registered with the market regulator, for a period of 5 years.
Also, the regulator barred Reliance Home Finance Ltd (RHFL) from the securities market for six months and slapped a fine of Rs 6 lakh on it.
In its 222-page final order, Sebi found that Anil Ambani, with the help of RHFL’s key managerial personnel, had orchestrated a fraudulent scheme to siphon-off funds from RHFL by disguising them as loans to entities linked to him. Given these circumstances, the company RHFL itself should not be held equally responsible as the individuals involved in the fraud.
Further, the remaining entities have played the role of being either recipients of illegally obtained loans or conduits to enable illegal diversion of monies from RHFL, the regulator noted.
The 24 restrained entities include former key officials of Reliance Home Finance Ltd (RHFL) — Amit Bapna, Ravindra Sudhalkar and Pinkesh R Shah — and Sebi has imposed fine on them for their role in the case.
Additionally, the remaining entities including Reliance Unicorn Enterprises, Reliance Exchange next Ltd, Reliance Commercial Finance Ltd, Reliance Cleangen Ltd, Reliance Business Broadcast News Holdings Ltd and Reliance Big Entertainment Private Ltd have been imposed a penalty of Rs 25 crore each.
These fines have been levied on them for either receiving the illegally obtained loans or acted as intermediaries to facilitate the illegal diversion of funds from RHFL.
In February 2022, markets watchdog Sebi had passed an interim order and restrained Reliance Home Finance Ltd, industrialist Anil Ambani and three other individuals (Amit Bapna, Ravindra Sudhakar and Pinkesh R Shah) from the securities market till further orders for allegedly siphoning off funds from the company.
(With inputs from PTI)