In a new development in the Burmans vs Religare case, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has registered an FIR against Dr Rashmi Saluja, executive chairperson of Religare Enterprises Ltd (REL), and two other top functionaries of the company. They are accused for their alleged role in hatching a criminal conspiracy to book the Burmans of the Dabur group for misappropriation of funds from Religare, and making unlawful benefits totalling Rs 179 crore.
According to a report by The Indian Express, the ED’s FIR has listed charges under IPC sections 420 (cheating) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) against Saluja, group CFO Nitin Agarwal, and president and general counsel Nishant Singhal.
The FIR relates to a case of alleged money laundering against former REL directors Malvinder Mohan Singh and Shivinder Mohan Singh, and others, filed by a company shareholder Vaibhav Jalinder Gawali. The complainant had alleged misappropriation of REL assets by Malvinder and Shivinder, and members of the Burman group, who are REL shareholders.
The ED’s FIR was based on the findings of its money-laundering probe into the November 2023 FIR, which revealed that the accused officials had allegedly paid Rs 2 lakh to Vaibhav Gawali to purchase 500 shares of REL worth Rs 1.20 lakh, and the remaining amount of Rs 80,000 was offered to him for filing a complaint with Matunga police against the Burman family. The FIR claimed that the ED analysed Gawali’s account and allegedly found that it corroborated his claims of having received money.
According to the FIR, this was done by the accused officials in order to derail the proposed takeover of REL and its subsidiaries by the Burmans, and to protect their Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) shares worth around Rs 179.54 crore.