The Securities and Exchange Board of India on Wednesday ordered the Singh brothers and eight entities related to them to repay Rs 403 crore to Fortis Healthcare Limited, reported Bloomberg. Malvinder Singh and Shivinder Singh are the former promoters of Fortis Healthcare.
In an order published on its website, the market regulator said a preliminary inquiry had found that the Singh brothers acted in a fraudulent manner by diverting the funds from Fortis Healthcare and misrepresented financial statements. Fortis Hospitals, RHC Holdings, Religare Finvest, Shivi Holdings, Malav Holdings, Best Healthcare, Fern Healthcare and Modland Wears are the other entities SEBI has ordered to pay the money.
The market regulator also ordered them not to dispose of any assets or divert funds till the investigation is complete. It also asked the Singh brothers not to associate themselves with Fortis Healthcare in any way.
Malvinder Singh and Shivinder Singh now control less than 1% stake in Fortis Healthcare. Last year, the Supreme Court prohibited the brothers from selling off their investments in the firm. The company had set up an investigation in February through an external legal firm, after it said that Fortis Hospitals deployed around Rs 473 crore as secured short-term investments to group firms linked with the Singh brothers. It had submitted the findings of the investigation to SEBI and the Serious Fraud Investigation Office.
Fortis Healthcare said its report had revealed that the payments were “not specifically authorised” by its board, and that there was evidence they had been used to repay loans made by companies connected with the Singh brothers.
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