Yashovardhan Birla, chairman of the Yash Birla Group, his close aide Anant Vardhan and seven others have been named by the Economic Offences Wing of the Mumbai police in a chargesheet of an alleged investment scam involving a group firm, Birla Power Solutions Limited (BPSL). The chargesheet was filed at the Special Maharashtra Protection of Interest of Depositors (MPID) Court on Thursday, IE reported.
Sources told IE that the chargesheet runs over 13,000 pages. The accused have been charged with cheating (420), criminal breach of trust (409) and criminal conspiracy (120B) of the IPC, along with certain sections of the MPID Act. “Since Birla was the head of the company and was aware of the irregularities in his company, he has been chargesheeted. He was questioned in the past in the case but had denied the knowledge of the same,” a senior official privy to the probe detail told The Indian Express.
The company’s spokesperson didn’t comment on the issue. As per the probe, BPSL allegedly diverted Rs 180 crore of investor funds to six other group companies through multiple transactions involving eight bank accounts between March 2009 and 2013. Birla has contested the allegation in court.
The first chargesheet in the case was filed last year. It was filed against the company’s CFO, PVR Murthy.
So far, the EOW has also seized 10 properties of the company in connection with the case. Apart from EOW, the Enforcement Directorate is also probing Birla for money laundering and passed an adjudication order against BPSL.
