The raids were conducted after the ED registered a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) against them. They have been accused by Religare Finvest of fraud and misappropriation involving around Rs. 740 crore. ED has also initiated a money laundering case against them.
In December 2018, Religare Enterprises Ltd (REL) subsidiary Religare Finvest (RFL) had lodged a criminal complaint with the Economic Offences Wing of the Delhi Police against promoters Malvinder Mohan Singh and Shivinder Mohan Singh.
The complaint was registered for various offences including cheating, criminal breach of trust, misappropriation, fraud and forgery and criminal conspiracy. “The complaint was filed basis internal inquiries (including an independent forensic review) undertaken by the new RFL board and management,” a press release by REL said. REL was controlled by the warring Singh brothers until February 2018.
"RFL saw a change in management. When the new management took over, they found that a loan had been taken but the money been invested in other companies linked to Singh and his brother. They filed a complaint with the EOW and subsequently, an FIR was registered," said a senior police officer told news agency PTI.
RFL has accused the Singh brothers and the others of diverting money in the form of loans to companies owned by themselves and misappropriation of funds. After their exodus from the board of REL in February 2018, the boards of REL and RFL had been re-constituted.