NEW DELHI: Religare Enterprises will go after every single penny that has been siphoned off the company by erstwhile promoters and management, Dr Rashmi Saluja, executive Chairperson of Religare Enterprises, told TNIE in an interaction.
“A lot of money was siphoned off, so we want the agencies to help us get the money back. It is not my discretion to be charitable as far as that money is concerned,” Dr Saluja said stressing the need to recover about Rs 4,800 crore, which she says was siphoned off from the company.
The erstwhile promoters of Religare Group – Shivender and Malvinder Singh – have been accused of diversion of Religare Finvest, the group’s NBFC business. In the process of recovering the said amount, Saluja says the company has had a lot of success on that front. Most of the FIRs have been registered and the ex-promoters have been sent to jail, the crime has been proved, and the perpetrators of the crime have been identified and jailed, she said.
As per the Chairman, ED has attached properties of the erstwhile promoters and the economic offence wing has identified all those companies where the siphoned-off money has reached. “We are going to stake claim to those attached properties for the auction. The process is time-consuming, but very rewarding,” Saluja says.
When asked if the company has been able to regain the lost trust of clients and customers, Saluja says the company has been able to resolve some of the legacy issues, thus winning the investors’ confidence back.
“We have repaid banks almost Rs 9,000-odd crore and settled issues with Sebi (Securities and Exchange Board of India). The confidence also comes back when your shareholders want to put money. We have done three rounds of fund-raising, where the issues were oversubscribed,” she says.
As per the Chairman, the biggest positive for the company has been that the erstwhile promoters have no shareholding left in the company. “All new shareholders – Burmans, Motilal Oswal, Plutus –have participated in each fundraising round. None of the investors who came in the last four years have left (the company), and they have been very supportive,” Saluja adds.
On the strategy for future growth, Saluja says Religare would focus on three pillars – steadfast compliance and governance, investment in risk management and technology, and identifying niche areas of business. The group has four key businesses – NBFC, affordable housing finance, retail broking and health insurance. It is now looking at new areas in the financial space which complement its existing business.