Sebi bars Thapar, three others from accessing markets
The markets regulator on Tuesday barred Gautam Thapar, former chairman of CG Power and Industrial Solutions Ltd, and three former officials of the company from the securities market, after a preliminary probe found them guilty of various irregularities.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) also asked BSE to appoint an independent auditor to conduct a forensic audit of the books of CG Power beginning 2015-16 and report in six months.
In its late evening order, Sebi said Thapar, former chief financial officer VR Venkatesh, former director of finance Madhav Acharya and former director B Hariharan were found to be prima facie guilty of misusing the company’s assets to facilitate loans for certain third parties; round-tripping of funds; concealing payment details; and unfairly extending interest-free loans to promoter group entities.
These actions were designed to siphon off the company’s money and led to losses for its shareholders, amounting to a fraud on public investors, Sebi said.
The preliminary probe indicated a “serious misstatement of accounts and diversion of funds” from CG Power and its subsidiaries, the 32-page order by Sebi whole-time member G Mahalingam said.
The four individuals used CG Power’s assets as collateral to help third parties obtain loans without authorisation from the board, the order said.
It said these individuals used different accounting heads to conceal payments made by CG Power, and entered into dubious transactions for reducing the liability of the promoter-affiliated companies towards CG Power.
Thapar group firms Avantha Holdings Ltd, Acton Global Pvt. Ltd and Solaris Industrial Chemicals Ltd were also directed by Sebi to retain funds and assets worth ₹2,185.93 crore to repay outstanding liabilities to CG Power.