Religare Finvest fraud case: Delhi court extends police custody of Singh brothers, Sunil Godhwani by two days

A Delhi court on Tuesday extended the police custody of former Fortis Healthcare promoters Malvinder Singh, his brother Shivinder by two more days in connection with misappropriation of Religare Finvest (RFL) funds and causing it losses of Rs 2,397 crore.

Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court extends police custody Malvinder Mohan Singh & Shivinder Mohan Singh by 2 days. They will be made to appear before CMM Court on October 17 pic.twitter.com/yXdUzd7xRS

— CNBC-TV18 (@CNBCTV18Live) October 15, 2019

Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Deepak Sherawat extended custodial interrogation of the accused after the probe agency sought their 2-day custody saying that new material has come up in the case, reported PTI. Besides the Singh brothers, the court extended by two days the police custody of Sunil Godhwani, another accused in the Religare fraud case. Other accused, Kavi Arora and Anil Saxena, have been sent to 2-day judicial custody. Malvinder’s lawyer told the court that they are not opposing the plea but ready to assist the probe. [caption id=“attachment_5183221” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] A file photo of Shivinder Singh and Malvinder Singh. Reuters[/caption] Earlier, police sought 2-day custodial interrogation of Malvinder, Shivinder and Sunil in the case. The accused will be made to appear before the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court on 17 October. On Friday morning, Malvinder (46) was arrested from  Ludhiana. Shivinder (44), Godhwani (58), the former chairman and managing director of Religare Enterprises Ltd (REL), Arora (48) and Saxena, who occupied important positions in REL and RFL, were arrested on Thursday by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Delhi Police for allegedly diverting money and investing in other companies. RFL is a subsidiary of the REL. Malvinder and Shivinder were earlier the promoters of REL. The police had said that a lookout circular (LOC)had been issued against Malvinder as he was absconding. He was detained on the intervening night of Thursday and Friday in Ludhiana and was formally arrested on Friday morning after he was brought here by the EOW team, additional commissioner of police (EOW) O P Mishra earlier told reporters. The EOW had registered an FIR in March after it received a complaint from Manpreet Singh Suri of the RFL against Shivinder, Godhwani and others alleging that loans were taken by them while managing the firm but the money was invested in other companies. According to the police, the complainant stated that the four had absolute control on REL and its subsidiaries. On Friday, the Delhi High Court had reserved order on whether to issue notice on former Fortis Healthcare promoter Malvinder Singh’s plea seeking quashing of an FIR against him that alleged misappropriation of Religare Finvest Ltd (RFL) funds, causing Rs 2,397 crore in losses. In December last year, REL’s subsidiary RFL had filed the complaint with the EOW, alleging fraud and misappropriation of funds to the tune of Rs 740 crore and had named the Singh brothers and others. On their part, the Singh brothers had blamed Godhwani for the troubles faced by the group. A case was registered by the EOW for various offences including cheating, criminal breach of trust, misappropriation, fraud and forgery and criminal conspiracy. The REL was controlled by the warring Singh brothers until February 2018. Post their exit from the board of REL in February 2018, the boards of REL and RFL have been re-constituted. Earlier, in August this year, the Enforcement Directorate had raided multiple premises linked to erstwhile Religare promoters, brothers Malvinder Mohan Singh and Shivinder Mohan Singh, and others in connection with a money laundering case. — With PTI inputs