The Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) Friday asked Anil Ambani to pay 50 per cent of the ₹25 crore penalty within four weeks as a precondition to stay the order passed by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) over his alleged involvement in diversion of funds from Reliance Home Finance.
“There should be no recovery of the penalty amount of ₹25 crore subject to 50 per cent of deposit within 4 weeks,“ the SAT directed.
Barred from markets
In August, SEBI had barred Anil Ambani and 24 others, including former officials of Reliance Home Finance (RHFL), from accessing the securities market for five years for diversion of funds. Ambani and others have been fined ₹25 crore each.
The regulator had concluded that Ambani had a significant role in the affairs of Reliance ADAG, specifically with respect to the companies that are allegedly part of the fraudulent scheme that diverted RHFL funds.
According to the SEBI order, a fraudulent scheme was orchestrated by Ambani and administered by the key managerial persons of RHFL, to siphon off funds from the latter by structuring them as ‘loans’ to credit unworthy conduit borrowers, and onward borrowers, all of whom were ‘promoter-linked entities’.