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Police said that Shivinder was the promoter of Religare Enterprise, which had 85% in RFL. Godhwani was the chairman and managing director, while the other two accused held senior managerial positions. The relationship between the Singh brothers had soured after allegations of fund diversion from the healthcare chain emerged. The two brothers have been dogged by controversy since the sale of Ranbaxy to Japanese drug-maker Daiichi Sankyo in deal worth Rs 17,000 crore that was signed in 2008. Later, the Japanese firm filed an arbitration case in Singapore alleging that the Singh brothers had concealed facts and withheld crucial information about the health of the company before the sale. The brothers have been ousted from Religare and Fortis after they pledged their shares to raise money, but could not repay the loans, setting the stage for a rapid slide for the scions of the top business family.
It was therefore observed by the Court that the number of unencumbered shares held by FHHPL steadily declined and that ‚the contemners knowingly and willingly lost control of Fortis Healthcare Limited . Tragically, Parvinder died of cancer in 1999, and seven years later in March 2006 his unhappy father too passed away. It was a sad end to two of India’s most brilliant business leaders, the father a legendary entrepreneur and the son, one of India’s most dynamic and progressive business leaders. In August, the Enforcement Directorate had also searched residences of former Ranbaxy chief executive officer Malvinder and his brother Shivinder in Delhi in connection with a money laundering case. They went to the courts once again, seeking a stay on the deal until they were rightfully compensated. In December 2018, the Supreme court put the IHH-Fortis open offer on hold.
- Thakur ended up working with US authorities to expose the fraud and even filed a lawsuit to hold Ranbaxy accountable.
- Clonberg Holdings‘ shareholders included Malvinder Singh, his wife Japna and their three daughters, while Shivinder Singh, his wife Aditi and their four children were shareholders of Forthill International.
- In the case of Forthill, share capital was increased on several occasions up to 48.5 lakh shares.
- The brothers and top executives, including Godhwani, are also being probed by other agencies, including the Enforcement Directorate and the Serious Frauds Investigation Office .
- Malvinder posted a video accusing his brother of hurting, threatening and bruising him.
Pathbreakers 1 & Pathbreakers 2 contain deep insights, unknown facts and captivating events in the life of 51 top achievers, in their own words. The recordings – 84 of them – have been submitted by the Enforcement Directorate to a Delhi court to help nail Sukesh Chandrashekhar, who has been in jail since 2017. Explore more for Ranbaxy breaking news, opinions, special reports and more on mint. These individuals include Anil Ambani, Sachin Tendulkar, and Kiran Mazumdar Shaw among others. Sixty of these prominent individuals and companies have been verified and have had their documents corroborated.
Shivinder Singh offers Delhi HC to allow him to mediate with Daiichi Sankyo
Shivinder alleged that the finances of the company were mismanaged while he had moved out in 2015 to serve full time at the spiritual retreat Radha Soami Satsang Beas. In the case of Forthill, share capital was increased on several occasions up to 48.5 lakh shares. Malvinder Singh and his younger brother Shivinder Singh set up two offshore firms in the British Virgin Islands, records https://1investing.in/ in the Pandora Papers investigated by The Indian Express reveal. In late 2018, Shivinder Singh sued Malvinder, accusing him of mismanagement and of basically being responsible for the downfall of the brothers‘ businesses. Malvinder and Shivinder Singh are the grandsons of Bhai Mohan Singh, a businessman from Pakistan’s Rawalpindi who settled in Delhi after the Partition.
They sold the company to Japanese drug maker Daiichi Sankyo in 2008 for $4.6 billion, out of which $2.4 billion went to them. The sale proceeds was fuelled their ambitions and they invested the money for expansion of Fortis Healthcare and Religare. Within a few years, they turned Fortis Healthcare into the country’s largest hospital chain and Religare Enterprises into one of the largest NBFCs. After the challenge by the Japanese drug maker, the Supreme Court in December 2018 ordered the status quo in the matter, thus stalling the open offer by IHH. The Japanese pharma company acquired Ranbaxy from Malvinder Singh and Shivinder Singh for USD 4.6 billion in 2008. The shares of Fortis Healthcare took a beating after the order as prices crashed 15 per cent on Thursday.
Shivinder Singh was arrested in 2019 on charges of money laundering. While a former billionaire is in jail, his wife spends hours on the phone discussing payments to obtain bail for him. She seems to believe that she is talking to senior government officials, including the Home Secretary of the country. She asks for a meeting with the Home Minister – and is told it will happen in due time if she „co-operates.“ She discusses money that was paid without the promised results.
Like explained earlier, the brothers pumped some of the proceeds of the sale into their other businesses — financial services firm Religare and hospital chain Fortis. When the Singh brothers were selling Ranbaxy, the company faced an investigation by the US Food and Drug Administration and the US Department of Justice. Malaysia’s IHH Healthcare had, in 2018, acquired a 31 per cent controlling stake in Fortis by paying $1.1 billion in a bidding process overseen by an independent board. This triggered an open offer to acquire another 26 per cent of Fortis shares from the market.
Delhi HC directs Shivinder Singh to pay up Daiichi money
Malvinder Singh and Shivinder Singh were arrested by the Economic Offences Wing in October 2019 for allegedly causing losses to the tune of Rs 2,397 crore to Religare Finvest Ltd, a subsidiary of Religare Enterprises Ltd . The Enforcement Directorate subsequently arrested Shivinder Singh and others in a money laundering case on December 12, 2019. Clonberg was initially authorised to issue only 50,000 shares, which was raised several times over the years up to 44.5 lakh shares of $1 each.
Bhai Mohan Singh went on to set up the pharma company Ranbaxy after buying a debt-ridden company owned by his cousins Ranjit Singh and Gurbax Singh . The views expressed in comments published on newindianexpress.com are those of the comment writers alone. They do not represent the views or opinions of newindianexpress.com or its staff, nor do they represent the views or opinions of The New Indian Express Group, or any entity of, or affiliated with, The New Indian Express Group. Newindianexpress.com reserves the right to take any or all comments down at any time. The biggest of which is that the man who was calling her was doing so from prison. He had access to a cellphone and used software that allowed him to ‚replicate‘ or ’spoof‘ the phone numbers of top government officers.
They have to offer to buy a further 26% of all shares from other shareholders. In 2019, the Serious Fraud Investigation Office, or SFIO, was also probing their role in an alleged fund diversion at Fortis Healthcare. After its initial probe, the SFIO had said that it believed that the fraud could be to the tune of Rs 2,000 crore. The Securities and Exchange Board of India and the SFIO suspected that the Singh brothers had diverted public money from Fortis Healthcare to Gurinder Singh Dhillon, the head of Radha Soami Satsang Beas and other religious bodies.
The default was also pointed out during the independent audit carried out by the RBI and market regulator Sebi. The brothers and top executives, including Godhwani, are also being probed by other agencies, including the Enforcement Directorate and the Serious Frauds Investigation Office . The brothers, heirs to Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd, owed around $500 million to Daiichi Sankyo after a Singaporean court found them guilty of luring Japanese drug-maker to purchase Ranbaxy by withholding information. But now that Daiichi Sankyo was the owner of Ranbaxy, it found itself in hot waters. In 2013, after spending billions in acquiring the company, Daiichi Sankyo had to dip into its coffers again.
At its peak, Religare was one of India’s largest non-banking financial corporations . Fortis, on the other hand, was India’s largest hospital chain. The Singh brothers were close to Dhillon, who, in fact, is their maternal uncle.
Pandora Papers: Post-Ranbaxy, Singh brothers, now in jail, opened 2 offshore firms
Mohan Singh divided his businesses between his three sons and the eldest one was appointed as the MD of Ranbaxy. Earlier in February, Malvinder had filed a criminal complaint against his brother Shivinder alleging that he had diverted Rs 740 crores from RFL without informing him about the transaction. The EOW had then detained Godhwani from the airport in May this year for questioning in this case while he was on his way to London. These companies are accused of wilfully defaulting in repayments and wrongful loss to RFL worth Rs 2,397 crore.
Later on 12 December 2019, the Enforcement Directorate arrested Shivinder Singh and others in a money laundering case. On 2 January 2009, Clonberg Holdings and Forthill International were registered in the British Virgin Islands through „Aleman, Cordero, Galindo & Lee Trust Limited“. As of May 2018, Forthill had issued 48.5 lakh shares, while singh brothers ranbaxy Clonberg had issued 44.5 lakh shares. Even worse, Mohan Singh’s love for his eldest son was also tested soon, as Parvinder’s style of working including his reliance on a handful of key executives, especially Devinder Singh Brar, disenchanted the patriarch. The acrimony finally led to the father’s ouster from the board and the company in 1993.
Pandora Papers Show How Indian Tax Laws Benefit Only the Rich
The Ranbaxy sale had raised eyebrows not just for the huge money it fetched but also for a twist that came after the sale. While Singh brothers were selling Ranbaxy, the company was facing probe by the US Food and Drug Administration and the Department of Justice. It was accused of falsifying data and test results in pending and approved applications. Later, the USFDA banned more than two dozen Ranbaxy drugs from entering the country. Ranbaxy had to pay $500 million in fines and restitution to US authorities as part of a settlement.
Over the next 40 years, he built the small pharma distribution firm into a powerhouse with well-known drugs such as the Calmpose and Cifran, both reverse engineered from products by multinational pharma companies. Additional CP O P Mishra said a case of cheating and fraud was registered last March on the basis of a complaint registered by RFL legal manager Manpreet Singh Suri. „The role of the accused persons in diverting public money was established during the investigation and they were arrested on the basis of the evidence we had collected,“ Mishra alleged. Now if you read our story on the NDTV-Adani drama, you’ll know that the moment someone buys a large stake such as this, the rulebook mandates them to make something called an “open offer”.
There were allegations of fraud — suggestions that the brothers had siphoned off over ₹400 crores from Fortis Hospitals. Also, there were dark clouds looming over Religare— an NBFC floated by the Singh Brothers. It was alleged that they’d used NBFC funds to settle over ₹2,400 crores in personal liabilities. Long before the recent wranglings, there was also the episode with Dinesh Thakur, the whistle-blower who put Ranbaxy in the dock. But, in 2005, Thakur quit and waved a red flag about alleged violations and irregularities at the pharma company. Thakur ended up working with US authorities to expose the fraud and even filed a lawsuit to hold Ranbaxy accountable.
The Supreme Court ordered a forensic audit on a particular transaction from 2018. At the time, IHH Healthcare, a Malaysian company decided to buy out Fortis because it saw an opportunity to make a dent in the Indian market. However, things didn’t go according to plan and if you’re still wondering what’s going on here, don’t fret. Unlock 30+ premium stories daily hand-picked by our editors, across devices on browser and app. It remains to be seen if the recent developments will be the final chapter of their downfall, or whether more skeletons might tumble out of their cupboard. What we know for sure is that Malvinder and Shivinder Singh have all but destroyed the legacy of their grandfather Bhai Mohan Singh and father Parvinder.
