Religare confirms ED raids on its senior officials.

Financial services provider Religare confirmed on Friday that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had conducted raids on the residences of several top executives, including Executive Chairperson Dr. Rashmi Saluja, Group CFO Mr. Nitin Agarwal, Group General Counsel Mr. Nishant Singhal, and Chief Operating Officer of Religare Finvest Limited (a wholly-owned subsidiary), Mr. Chirag Jain, on August 21, 2024.

Earlier reports from the Economic Times indicated that the ED seized several documents, including demat and bank accounts belonging to these officials. However, Religare's press release clarified that no incriminating documents or digital devices were found or seized during the searches and that the officials cooperated fully by providing the necessary information and documents.

The press release further disclosed that the ED had frozen the ESOP shares of Care Health Insurance Limited, the health insurance subsidiary of the company, which were held by Dr. Saluja, Mr. Agarwal, and Mr. Singhal. It also emphasized that the searches, the questions asked, and the frozen ESOP shares were not related to the FIR or the predicate offense mentioned in the FIR.

The ED's investigation stems from an FIR filed by Vaibhav Gawli, an office assistant at a pet café in Mumbai, alleging that funds were siphoned off from Religare Finvest. The complaint accused former REL promoters, Shivinder Singh and Malvinder Singh, along with certain Burman family members—who had made an open offer to acquire a 26% stake in REL—among others. The FIR, lodged under sections 420, 120-B, 511, and 114 of the Indian Penal Code, includes allegations of cheating, criminal conspiracy, and intent to defraud the complainant and other REL shareholders, naming 14 individuals as accused.