Money laundering case: ED summons three independent directors of Care Health Insurance

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has called three independent directors of Care Health Insurance, which is a part of Religare Enterprises, to attend a meeting on August 5. They are being called in for questioning regarding suspected money laundering. Care Health's chairperson Rashmi Saluja is currently in a takeover battle with the Burman family for control of Religare Enterprises. The investigation was initiated by the Mumbai police's Economic Offences Wing to verify allegations of financial misconduct.

The ED action is based on a complaint against the Burman family and former Religare promoters. It's related to employee stock options and board approvals issued since FY19. Last November, the Mumbai police received a cheating complaint, which led to the case being transferred to its Economic Offences Wing for investigation. Vaibhav Gawli, a Religare Enterprises shareholder, named Dabur group chairman Mohit Burman, his family members, and former Religare promoters Malvinder and Shivinder Singh, among others, as part of the case.

The primary focus of the current investigation is to verify the accuracy of the allegations and identify any instances of money laundering. The three non-executive independent directors who have been summoned are SL Mohan, Asha Nair, and Hamid Ahmed. They will be questioned about the employee stock options plans issued by Care Health Insurance since FY19. The federal probe agency has also requested details of the board and statutory approvals for the employee stock options. One person familiar with the case noted that the offense does not fall under the scheduled offense under the PMLA, which addresses specifically listed acts of money laundering.

Last month, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai) directed Care Health Insurance to buy back 7.56 million shares allotted to its chairperson Rashmi Saluja at the same price as the exercise price of æ45.32 per share, for violating its rules.