Elder Pharma, embroiled in bribery case, is among the biggest
defaulters of Public Deposits and the Ministry of Corporate Affair (MCA) is
doing nothing. Money Life
Elder Pharmaceuticals Ltd, infamous for its
continuous defaults and fraudulent ways to manage the authorities, is again in
the news. While the pharma company makes its corporate fixed deposits (FDs)
holders run from pillar to post, the Central
Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has alleged in a first information report (FIR)
that Elder Pharma bribed BK Bansal, the Director General in the Ministry of
Corporate Affairs (MCA) to prevent a Serious Fraud Investigation on Elder.
CBI has arrested Bansal and a fixer. While Bansal was in custody, his wife and
daughter have committed suicide.
The case of Elder Pharma also highlights lethargic
attitude and approach from the Ministry officials, especially how they ignore
plight of thousands of FD holders and earn quick benefits while shielding the
company. Earlier, when Moneylife Foundation sent a memorandum, the plight of over 1,138 aggrieved investors in corporate
FD holders to the Ministry, it merely acted like a post office and forwarded
the memorandum to SFIO and its regional offices for further probe.
Moneylife Foundation's compilation showed that H&M accounts for the
largest number of complaints. Besides H&M, companies, which have a large number of
complaints, are: Elder Pharmaceuticals, Jaypee Group, Unitech, Plethico
Pharmaceuticals and Bilcare Ltd. The other companies were: Neesa Leisure,
Phadnis Infrastructure, Micro Technologies, Jaypee Infratech, Yash Birla group
of companies and Omnitech Infosolutions.
According to a report from Indian Express, the CBI
is probing the role of Anuj Saxena, the chief operating officer (COO) of the
company and television actor in connection with a Rs20-lakh bribery case
involving Bansal. "In its FIR against Saxena, the CBI alleges that his
company bribed Bansal so that he does not order an Serious Fraud Investigation
Office (SFIO) inspection against Elder Pharmaceuticals on charges of illegal
collection of Rs175 crore from 24,000 investors. Saxena is believed to be
abroad," the report
says.
In April this year, the Company Law Board (CLB)
dismissed an application filed by Elder Pharmaceuticals seeking extension of
time for repaying the dues to its FD holders. During the same month, the Bombay
High Court granted time till August to Elder Pharma to generate funds for
clearing dues of investors.
"If they fail to meet this deadline, the court
is likely to appoint liquidators; given that over two dozen winding-up
petitions have been filed against the company. Among those who have filed
winding-up petitions are Tata Capital Financial Services, which had bought
debentures worth Rs15 crore, and a horde of vendors and suppliers, who are owed
amounts ranging from a few lakhs to a few crores," says a report from Business
Standard.
The report from Business Standard raises the more
serious question on the cash flow of Elder Pharma and the company's inability
to clear its dues. The report says, "In 2014, the company sold two of its
divisions comprising 30 brands to Torrent Pharma for Rs2,004 crore. Experts
cannot understand why despite this huge cash flow and its substantial assets,
the company has not been able to meet its small commitments. Some write-offs
and other entries in the company's books have also been questioned by its
auditors."
Quoting a qualified opinion of auditor SS
Khandelwal & Co, the news report says, "Pursuant to the authorisation of resolution
passed by the board of directors, the company has written off trade advances of
Rs176 crore and other advances worth Rs855.32 crore made to various parties on
current account either during the year or in earlier financial years. We have been informed that there were no stipulations for repayments
thereof. Further, the auditor said the reasons for writing off the advances and
the other details were not made available to it. The auditor also raised issues
on the writing off of capital, trade and other advances of about Rs145
crore."
According to news reports today Bansal's wife
Satyabala (57) and daughter Neha (27) allegedly committed suicide by hanging
themselves at their Mayur Vihar residence in east Delhi on Tuesday. On 16 July
2016, Bansal was arrested by the CBI in an alleged bribery case. Bansal had
demanded Rs50 lakh from Saxena's Elder Pharma. However, the amount was brought
down to Rs20 lakh. He was caught red-handed while receiving the second
instalment of bribe worth Rs9 lakh from a Delhi hotel along with middleman
Vishwadeep Bansal. CBI during its searches at eight locations in connection
with the case claimed to have recovered over Rs56 lakh from Bansal, while Rs16
lakh were recovered from the Delhi-based middleman, the report says.
Courtesy ; Money Life
