Religare confirms ED raids on its senior officials

The officials included Dr. Rashmi Saluja, Executive Chairperson; Nitin Agarwal, Group CFO; Nishant Singhal, Group General Counsel of Religare Enterprises Limited (REL); and Chirag Jain, Chief Operating Officer of Religare Finvest Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the company, said a press release issued by Religare.

Earlier ET reported that the ED had seized several documents, including demat and bank accounts belonging to these officials.

The ED has frozen the ESOP shares of Care Health Insurance Limited (CHIL), a health insurance subsidiary of the company, which were held by Dr. Saluja, Agarwal, and Singhal.

Religare’s statement clarified that the officials, who were searched, the inquiries made during the search, and the frozen ESOP shares were not related to the FIR or the predicate offense as indicated in the FIR.

The ED’s investigation stems from a first information report (FIR) lodged by Vaibhav Gawli, an office assistant at a pet cafe in Mumbai, alleging the misappropriation of funds from Religare Finvest.

The complaint implicates former REL promoters Shivinder Singh and Malvinder Singh, as well as members of the Burman family, who had made an open offer to acquire a 26% stake in REL, among others.

The FIR, which accuses 14 individuals, was filed under Sections 420, 120-B, 511, and 114 of the Indian Penal Code, covering offenses such as cheating and criminal conspiracy.