Sunil Godhwani: Suspected of 800 Crore Fraud in 2020

Olena Ivanova By Olena Ivanova
20 Min Read

Originally Syndicated on July 24, 2023 @ 11:18 am

Sunil Godhwani, the former president and executive director of Religare Enterprises Ltd, was apprehended for his involvement with a 2020 fraudulent allegation involving eight hundred crores, police claimed.

He had been in the custody of the courts as a result of an accusation filed in the Economic Offences Wing of the Delhi Police alleging embezzlement of cash from the company i.e.  Religare Finvest Limited. Those were placed in performance custody after he was detained by the authorities. 

According to Chhaya Sharma, a Joint Commissioner of Delhi Police mentioned that Sunil Godhwani, had previously been in the possession of the court for another matter. As a result, there was additionally an investigation pending in the Court in the year 2020, and the defendant had been detained for the Rs. 800 Crores fraudulent allegation. He was taken into custody on a manufacturing order and charged in the current case. 

According to Businessworld.com, in the RFL case that occurred in the year 2019, the authorities enrolled an FIR against Sunil Godhwani, Shivinder Mohan Singh, Malvinder Mohan Singh, along with many others based on an accusation submitted by the business’s authorized agents for purportedly redirecting the funds of the business as well as putting it toward other businesses. The Singh Brothers previously sponsored Religare Enterprises Ltd. 

Ex-Religare CEO arrested in Rs 2,300 crore RFL scam case 

Religare
Religare

According to sources, the Economic Offences Wing of the Delhi Police has detained the previous chief executive officer of the business Religare Enterprises Ltd. on suspicion of stealing public funds worth roughly Rs. 2,300 crores. Krishna Subramanian, a Rohini homeowner in northwestern Delhi, was officially confirmed as the culprit. 

Reportedly by the Delhi Police, Manpreet Singh Suri, an AR of Religare Finvest Inc., submitted an accusation accusing Malvinder Mohan Singh, Shivinder Mohan Singh, Sunil Godhwani, as well as others occupying important administrative positions, stating alleged these people had the full authority of Religare Enterprise Limited. 

Sunil Godhwani: Charged in Connection with a 2020 Scam Case

By making payments to a corporation with no economic standings, the affiliated company put the RFL in an untenable financial predicament. 

According to the Delhi Police, these companies wilfully failed on reimbursement, causing RFL to suffer an unjust expense of Rs. 23,97 crores. 

It was additionally noted and warned by the Reserve Bank of India & the Securities and Exchange Board of India throughout an impartial inspection. 

Subramanian served as RFL’s Froup CEO from 2017 to 2018. A financial commitment of 115 crores has been authorized as secured financing to 3 organizations: Best Health Management Pvt. Ltd, M/s Vitoba Realtors Pvt. Ltd., and Devera Developers Pvt. Ltd. These distinct financing contracts, as well as Asola land property papers, were maintained as collateral with Religare Finvest Ltd. 

As the title documents for the properties were never filed to RFL, the debts have been elevated to unprotected loans under the company’s loan inventory. 

Afterwards, it turned out that the land held as collateral by RFL was traded with consent or notification to RFL, according to a senior police officer.

It was additionally determined that the real estate paperwork was made available to the lender following the completion of a share-pledging contract on the tenth of January 2018 between the RHC and Elive, whereby Elive stocks had been pledged and trademark registrations for the Religare intellectual property were placed with RFL. 

Malvinder & Shivinder, as well as the other three, were previously detained in connection with the investigation. He stated that Subramanian was arrested. 

According to www.thehindu.com website, Under the legislature, financial offences are regarded as serious, particularly where public funds have been involved. As per the courtroom, economic offences are regarded as severe, particularly if public resources are at stake, therefore judges must exercise caution while issuing parole in such circumstances.

Sunil Godhwani has been imprisoned for a suspected Rs 800-crore scam. 

Sunil Godhwani, the former Chairman and Managing Director of Religare Enterprise Ltd was taken into custody by Delhi Police in a rupees 800 crores scandal

Several proceedings have been filed over him in court and by the Delhi Police. Chhaya Sharma, the Joint Commissioner of Police of the Economic Offense Wing, confirmed to IANS, “All right, we have arrested him.”

Krishnan Subramanian, the CEO of Religare, was apprehended in December 2019 allegedly stealing Rs2,397 crore from the public.

In the year 2018, Godhwani was jailed. The defendant has requested release on the basis that he is an elderly person who deals with multiple illnesses & may experience health problems in prison due to the latest outbreak of the worldwide epidemic.

Delhi Police said that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) identified disparities in its investigation indicating indicated the most prominent RFL debtors within its Commercial Loan Book category were linked to organizations.

According to the Central Bank of India, the organizations were interconnected among the recipients, as assets were moved from 1 lender to another. subsequently was also highlighted that the borrowed sum ultimately went back to the RFL collection of firms.

Sunil Godhwani along with the other defendants became substantial investors until the end of 2017 and owned firms until the end of February 2018. Following the appointment of fresh leadership, it came to light that firm RFL suffered a financial loss of around Rs 2,397 crores.

Fraud
Fraud

Later on, Sunil Godhwani, owner of RFL, has been under custody because of the connection with a fraud case of Rupees 800 crores in the year 2020. He was already in the custody of police as per the scam in 2019. He was taken into production remand and then an investigation was started. 

Singh Brothers’ Case: Who are Sunil Godhwani & Sanjay Godhwani?

A booming organization empire shattered, and forging relationships among the company’s executives along with the family counsel as well. Malvinder Singh, the founder, and owner of Fortis Healthcare Private Limited, has proven to be an ideal prescription for catastrophe. 

Malvinder Singh submitted a police report with the Economic Offences Wing in November regarding his affiliates Sunil Godhwani & Sanjay Godhwani, as well as certain workers of Ligare Aviation Inc., for purportedly defrauding Singh’s Malav Holdings Corp. of a total of Rupees 30 crores. 

The fees include defrauding his organization of a total of Rs 18 crores and Rs 88 lakhs through deceptive compensation sanctioning, developing bogus invoices for a total of Rs 4.94 lakhs, along with chining of credibility including transferring shares valuable greater than Rs 6 crores to Godhwanis over a pittance of Rs 42 lakhs. 

So, who are the Godhwanis, and exactly what are their ties to Malvinder Singh & his family? the main question is this. The pinnacle of a win-win scenario went bad.

The Singhs were acquainted with the Godhwani relatives for many years, as they ran a leather goods industry in Delhi. Sunil Godhwani, the wealthy guy, was the engine behind all the investment and financial guidance given to Malvinder & Shivinder Singh whenever Religare moved publicly. 

He was frequently referred to as the Singh siblings’ third brother.

Dhillon, one of the Singh brothers’ maternal uncles, advised and supported the Godhwanis to operate Religare Enterprises, a non-banking financial business. Godhwanis managed Religare almost entirely on his own, with the assistance of Dhillons.  

Regardless, excessive deals, significant sums of cash, and numerous responsibilities maintained by close companions and relatives resulted in a dispute between competing interests and a confrontation among the Singhs or the Godhwanis, resulting in the demise of the once-thriving commercial enterprise. 

In just over a decade, the Singh brothers lost possession of their most treasured holdings, Fortis Healthcare & Religare Industries.

In terms of Malav ownership, it has a fifty per cent stake in NBFC and RHC Holding Private Limited plus a thirty per cent position in Ligare Aviation, the Singh brothers’ chartered aircraft company. 

Ran Air Operations started selling chopper planes & turboprop aircraft in the year 2006 and eventually expanded into air ambulance operations before branching further into training for crew members and aircraft upkeep. Sanjay Godhwani operated Ligare Airlines on his own.

Ligare Aviation’s council of directors was made up of the Singh brothers, their relatives, or acquaintances, including Sanjay Godhwani. Sanjay Godhwani quit the business’s board of directors in November 2015, alleging internal disagreements.

The game of assigning blame began in 2018 after the Singhs accused the Godhwani brothers of making bad company choices that put them into debt.

The Singh siblings attributed Godhwanis’ grandiose failures at Religare Enterprises to the company’s demise as a once-global economic juggernaut. Its debt load increased roughly sixteen times following the Ranbaxy deal, spanning Rs 1,272 crore in 2008-2009 to a staggering Rs 20,222 crore in 2016 March.

Religare’s affiliates, Religare Capital Markets & Ligare Aviation, constituted a major strain on the company’s finances. Sunil Godhwani, according to the Singh brothers, controlled and operated every one of the investment corporations & money under their respective holding businesses, Oscars & RHC Holding, separately.

The Singh siblings further faulted Godhwanis for their unsuccessful promise to get a banking license, which the Reserve Bank of India refused. However, Godhwanis have laid responsibility on the Singh brothers.

It claimed that Daiichi Sankyo’s accusations following the Ranbaxy deal harmed their likelihood of obtaining a banking license, widening the schism even more.

All of this negligence, combined with the unlawful channeling of cash and choices regarding investments, has grown into an important cause of disagreement among the Singhs and the Godhwanis, having the topic currently being investigated by the Economic Offence Wing.

Variety and Creativity: A Key for Staying on Developing Industry Requires to Arise Successfully

Massive concentration & problem-solving actions constitute the primary factors underlying new entrepreneurs’ achievement. Using an instance of Indian businessmen who have launched new companies, such as Sunil Godhwani, M.G. George Muthoot, and Pratap Reddy, could help to diversify the marketplace’s customer base. 

Looking ahead, whatever does it need to be an entrepreneur who succeeds nowadays? Is innovative thoughts or new imaginative capacity manifested in the shape of a new device? By taking a tiny screen and transforming it into a bigger one and placing India on the map, for example, Zomato, Hotstar, Ola Cabs, and others introduced their innovative transformational strategy to the marketplace.  

Innovation has evolved into a means of empowering all individuals to take control of their own lives & strive for financial success. It also contributes to the overall expansion of the Indian corporate sector. It is not a simple endeavour, which also necessitates tremendous strength and determination to do anything extraordinary. 

presently the globe shifts too quickly, with organizations of all kinds expanding their activities across international markets, and it becomes increasingly vital to comprehend the worth of the at night, which demands time and work to create anything distinctive and helpful for customers. 

It isn’t regarded as a Bazinga revolution for fresh endeavours in which people can accomplish anything innovative and exciting while still achieving outstanding outcomes. It is primarily dependent on the more complicated operations that businesses may perform. 

Take a look at the Indian market; nearly every Indian currently owns a smartphone, which is a long change from the beginning of the 2000s, when owning a smartphone was regarded as something of a luxury. Who allowed this to happen? Is it only a single company, or does it affect internationalization along with excellent access to the internet, where consumers demand beneficial, original, and active products?

Is product variety important? Consider the case of Lg. What began as a television company has grown into an entity that sells a variety of technological things such as smartphones, refrigerators, & so on.

Businesses frequently prefer expanding as a single entity since diversifying their goods line allows them to fulfil increasing consumer needs. “Patanjali Ayurved Limited” specializes in well-being and nourishment, whereas “Chettinad Group” concentrates on schooling & transportation.

In this context, one noteworthy instance pertains to one of India’s diverse economic organizations Religare. the efforts of its Managing Director, Sunil Godhwani, a New Delhi-based business that began as an equity brokerage firm has grown into an institution giving financing to SMEs, affordable housing finances, and health insurance. 

His approach of entering abroad through purchases and mergers offered Religare an opportunity for global reach and may have set the way for the Indian financial business to become big.  

Sunil Godhwani held the charge of managing and overseeing every division of the company, and his aggressive attitude helped the organization take on a worldwide as well as diverse structure & shape.

M G George’s, the owner of Muthoot Finance company is another example. When he inherited the business at Muthoot, the company comprised only 31 offices spread over four different states. Because of his solution-centric talents, the Group now has 4433 locations & yearly sales of Rupees. 255 billion.

Considering higher disposable incomes and simple borrowing, demand expansion is expected to pick up.

Becoming inventive & responding to individual diverse needs in the marketplace can seem tough at first. Undoubtedly are going to be challenges throughout the path, but the individual who can overcome them is going too far in life.

As a result, Godhwani, the founder of Religare Finvest Limited, was taken into custody in connection with a Rupees 800 crore fraudulent case. Whether he is regarded as a successful entrepreneur, committing a fraud of nearly 800 crores makes him a victim and a major fraudster. 

About Sunil Godhwani 

Sunil Godhwani has been the Chairman of Religare since April 6, 2010, and the Managing Director since the 9th of April in the year 2007. Legal investigations against the leadership of the company are currently ongoing until 2019, while Godhwani was apprehended in June of 2022 on accusations of embezzlement.

He has been a member of the Confederation of Indian Industry along with the Federation of Indian Chambers of Industry and Commerce. Sunil Godhwani was born on the tenth of December 1960, to a Sindhi family in India’s capital, New Delhi. He graduated from New York University Tandon School of Engineering with a B.Sc. in chemical technology & an M.Sc. in mechanical engineering & economics. 

About Religare Finvest Limited  

Religare Finvest Ltd is an industrial financing company. Cash flow, guaranteed business growth, plus immediate commercial agreements are all available from the business in question. Clients in India are served by Religare Finvest.

Religare Enterprise Ltd is a New Delhi-based Indian investment company and banking firm. REL is traded on the National Stock Exchange of India. The company also has a registration with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). It was established as a nonprofit corporation with limited liability in 2001. The company effectively acquired non-convertible bonds in the amount of eight hundred crores. 

Conclusion 

Numerous financial offences have been successfully perpetrated over the past few years. Such crimes have only been uncovered for several decades. Considering the nation’s complicated financial and banking structures, individuals continue to look for vulnerabilities to steal additional funds from the public.

A wealthy businessman like Sunil Godhwani, but in the pursuit of money, he became a big scammer through his involvement in a rupees 800 crores fraud case. According to the court, economic offences are regarded as severe, particularly if public funds are involved.

An MD of Religare Enterprises Limited, Sunil Godhwani, was not granted parole in an investigation involving the suspected theft of money, citing the severity of the charges, the loan amounts concerned, and his role in the transactions.

Malvinder Singh & Shivinder Singh, as well as three additional individuals holding positions of authority in RFL, were all previously taken into custody according to the evidence at their disposal.

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