The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday arrested former Ranbaxy promoter Malvinder Singh and the then chairman-cum-managing director of Religare Enterprises Limited (REL) Sunil Godhwani, in a money laundering case.
The two accused were in judicial custody after they were arrested last month along with three others by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Delhi Police for alleged diversion of Religare Finvest Limited (RFL) funds and losses to the tune of ₹2,397 crore. RFL is a subsidiary of REL.
The ED's application for the custodial interrogation of Mr. Singh and Mr. Godhwani will be taken up by the court on Friday. The agency may also seek permission for recording the statements of the other accused under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
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The EOW had registered the FIR in March on a complaint lodged by Manpreet Singh Suri of the RFL, alleging cheating and misappropriation. Among those arrested were Kavi Arora, Anil Saxena and Mr. Singh's younger brother Shivinder Singh.
They were accused of putting RFL in a poor financial condition by disbursing loans to the firms that were controlled by them and had no financial standing. The companies allegedly wilfully defaulted on repayments.
The issue was also highlighted in an independent audit by the Reserve Bank of India and the Securities and Exchange Board of India.
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After registering the money laundering case based on the EOW's FIR, the ED had carried out searches at the residences of Mr. Singh and his brother in August.