An Indian-American physical therapist assistant has been sentenced to over four years in prison and ordered to pay USD 1.9 million in restitution for his role in a $14.9 million health insurance fraud scheme.
To further tighten its control of practising accountants, the Centre has brought within the ambit of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) their "financial transactions" such as operating and managing their client firms and trusts, and buying and selling business entities. The Union finance ministry issued a gazette notification on this on Wednesday. Under the new rule, chartered accountants, company secretaries, and cost and works accountants carrying out such transactions (on behalf of their clients) will now be required to go through the Know Your Company (KYC) process before commencing work.
'We want maximum voting and a healthy system. People from the whole world appreciate our system'
The CBI has filed a fresh case against absconding diamantaire Mehul Choksi, wanted along with his nephew Nirav Modi in a loan fraud case of Rs 13,500 crore, for allegedly inflating the value of diamonds and jewellery pledged to get Rs 25 crore loan from IFCI, officials said on Monday. The CBI has booked Mehul Choksi, his company Gitanjali Gems and valuers Surajmal Lallu Bhai and Co, Narendra Jhaveri, Pradip C Shah and Shrenik Shah, they said. The central agency has acted on a complaint from Industrial Finance Corporation of India (IFCI) Ltd alleging that Choksi had approached it in 2016 seeking Rs 25 crore working capital loan for which he had pledged shares and gold and diamond jewellery.
The Supreme Court adjourned to Tuesday the hearing on a plea of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) seeking extension of six months to complete a probe into allegations of stock price manipulation by the Adani group. The hearing on the market regulator's plea and PILs could not take place on Monday due to paucity of time and on account of scheduled hearing of certain matters before a special bench at 3 pm. A bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and justices P S Narasimha and J B Pardiwala on May 12 had said it would consider granting three more months to Sebi for concluding its probe into the allegations of stock price manipulation and lapses in regulatory disclosure.
IPO-bound hospitality major OYO has written to the Ministry of Tourism (MoT) requesting it to intervene and investigate the running of the Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI) and order eviction of erring executive committee members. The hotel aggregator urged the MoT to take necessary action against FHRAI's "illegally run" Executive Committee and its members who are working for self-interest instead of that of small hotel owners. The representation by OYO alleged that FHRAI's actions are detrimental to small hotel owners.
2022 is shaping up as the year brimming with job opportunities for people who possess relevant skillsets. Therefore, it is crucial for fresh graduates and young professionals to enroll in relevant certification courses to add more feathers to their introductory portfolio
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday arrested former Mumbai police commissioner Sanjay Pandey in connection with a money laundering case linked to the alleged illegal phone tapping of NSE employees, officials said.
An expert committee appointed by the Supreme Court said it cannot conclude any regulatory failure around Adani Group's stock rallies, and that Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has 'drawn a blank' in its probe into alleged violations in money flows from offshore entities into the conglomerate.
An expert committee appointed by the Supreme Court said it cannot conclude any regulatory failure around Adani Group's stock rallies, and that Sebi has "drawn a blank" in its probe into alleged violations in money flows from offshore entities into the conglomerate. But the six-member panel said there was an evidence of a build-up in short positions on Adani Group stocks ahead of the report of US-based short seller Hindenburg Research, and profiting from squaring off positions after prices crashed post-publication of the damning allegations. "At this stage, taking into account the explanations provided by Sebi, supported by empirical data, prima facie, it would not be possible for the committee to conclude that there has been a regulatory failure around the allegation of price manipulation," the panel said in the report submitted to the Supreme Court.
If you have questions related to online insurance frauds, then Piyush Ranjan, chief technology officer, Coverfox Insurance, will answer your queries.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has taken a veiled swipe at the Bharatiya Janata Party, saying Shiv Sena workers should make people aware about 'fraudulent elements' who are collecting money in the name of Lord Ram.
The Income-Tax (I-T) department has issued around 8,000 notices to salaried employees, self-employed individuals, and companies who made significant donations to charitable trusts. The department suspects potential tax evasion, as records of these donations do not correspond with the income and expenses of those making them. Sandeep Bajaj, managing partner, PSL Advocates & Solicitors, says, "Notices were issued for donations made during the assessment years of 2017-18 through 2020-21."
Arrested in September 2019 by the Delhi police for making 'provocative statements' when Donald J Trump was on his visit to India, Dr Umar Khalid has now spent three years in jail without being convicted of an offence, points out Aakar Patel.
BharatPe has sacked Madhuri Jain Grover, wife of the fintech firm's co-founder and managing director Ashneer Grover, over alleged financial irregularities and cancelled ESOPs vested with her. Madhuri is alleged to have used company funds for personal beauty treatments, buying electronic items and family trips to the US and Dubai, sources with direct knowledge of the matter said. Besides, she also allegedly paid her personal staff out of company accounts and produced fake invoices from known/friendly parties, they added.
Without naming Adani group specifically, the capital markets watchdog said in a statement that unusual price movement in the stocks of a business conglomerate has been observed in the past week.
Capital markets regulator Sebi has sent a notice to Deccan Chronicle Holding's promoters and asked them to pay Rs 4.29 crore in a matter related to misrepresentation of financial statements of the company from FY 2008-09 to 2011-12. The regulator directed T Venkattram Reddy, T Vinayak Ravi Reddy and P K Iyer to pay Rs 4.29 crore, which includes interest and recovery costs, within 15 days, Sebi said in a demand notice issued on Friday. In the event of non-payment, it will recover the amount by attaching and selling the movable and immovable properties of the Deccan Chronicle Holdings Ltd (DCHL) promoters.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Sunday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party-led central government of being 'undemocratic', and said people will have to strongly fight against its 'dictatorship' to save democracy.
The CBI has booked Kanpur-based Rotomac Global and its directors for Rs 750.54 crore for alleged fraud in Indian Overseas Bank, officials said. The company, which was in the business of writing instruments, has a total outstanding of Rs 2,919 crore against a consortium of seven banks led by Bank of India in which Indian Overseas Bank has an exposure of 23 per cent. The agency has booked the company and its Directors - Sadhna Kothari and Rahul Kothari - under IPC sections related to criminal conspiracy (120-B) and cheating (420), besides various provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
In the year-long crackdown on tax evasion, the GST authorities have unearthed over Rs 35,000 crore of tax fraud committed by misuse of input tax credit provision under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime. During the 2020-21 financial year, the CGST zones and the Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI) booked about 8,000 cases involving fake ITC of over Rs 35,000 crore, a statement from CBIC said. Under the GST regime, at the time of paying tax on output, entities can reduce the tax they have already paid on inputs.
A plea has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking investigation under the supervision of a sitting apex court judge against the Adani group of companies in light of the allegations made by the US-based Hindenburg Research.
The board meeting is scheduled to be held on Tuesday to discuss the PwC report findings on Grover's conduct. There have been allegations of financial irregularities against him. According to sources, Grover in his resignation letter said that he is being forced to bid adieu to a company of which he is a founder. Grover alleged in the letter that he and his family have been embroiled in baseless and targeted attacks by a few individuals, who are ready to not only harm his reputation, but also the reputation of the company. Queries sent to Grover did not elicit any immediate reply.
The telecom ministry will set up an intelligence unit and a consumer protection system as part of continuing efforts to tackle the menace of pesky calls as well as to take strict action against financial frauds perpetrated using telecom resources.
A Delhi court on Monday awarded three-year jail term to former coal secretary H C Gupta in a coal scam case related to irregularities in the allocation of a coal block in Maharashtra, a lawyer associated with the case said.
Veteran sports administrator Narinder Batra's former office at the Indian Olympic Association headquarters and the Hockey India office in New Delhi were on Monday raided by CBI officials.
It is high time the Indian government signalled discomfort with the UK providing refuge to those accused of financial crimes in India, states Jaimini Bhagwati.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday said it has arrested Karvy Stock Broking Limited (KSBL) CMD C Parthasarathy and group CFO G Krishna Hari in connection with a money laundering investigation linked to alleged diversion of clients' securities of over Rs 2,873 crore. The agency produced the two-- already lodged in central jail, Bengaluru after being arrested by the police-- before a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Hyderabad on January 20 and on January 25 it remanded them to four days of ED custody from January 27-30, it said in a statement. The ED case, filed under the criminal provisions of the PMLA, is based on multiple Telangana Police FIRs filed by the HDFC Bank, few other banks and investors alleging clients' securities were illegally diverted by Karvy Stock Broking Ltd and these were later pledged with banks and non banking financial companies (NBFCs) for loans which were later "defaulted".
The RBI on Monday imposed penalty aggregating to Rs 6 crore on Bank of India and Punjab National Bank for contravention of norms, including one related to "Frauds - Classification and Reporting". A penalty of Rs 4 crore has been imposed on Bank of India and Rs 2 crore on Punjab National Bank. In a statement, the RBI said the statutory Inspection for Supervisory Evaluation (lSE) of Bank of India was conducted with reference to its financial position as on March 31, 2019.
Internet users should be watchful for such attacks including phishing attempts and conduct cyber security audits of their IT systems, officials of Maharashtra Cyber, the state police's cyber wing, said.
The BJP urged the EC to take legal action against West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for her allegation that Union Home Minister Amit Shah may be influencing the poll watchdog and accused her of running a 'smear campaign' against him.
Seattle has become the first US city to outlaw caste discrimination after its local council passed a resolution, moved by an Indian-American politician and economist, to add caste to its non-discrimination policy.
Sebi has barred fugitive businessman Mehul Choksi and one Rakesh Girdharlal Gajera from the capital markets for one year and levied a fine totalling Rs 2.5 crore on them for violating insider trading rules in the matter of Gitanjali Gems. In addition, they have been restrained from buying, selling or otherwise dealing in securities of Gitanjali Gems Ltd (GGL) for a period of two years. Also, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has directed Gajera to disgorge a sum of Rs 15.82 crore.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to hear on February 17 a fresh plea of a Congress leader seeking investigation under the supervision of a sitting apex court judge against the Adani group of companies in light of the allegations made by the US-based Hindenburg Research.
Section 363 of the IPC relates to punishment for kidnapping while Section 366 is concerned with kidnapping, abducting or inducing a woman to compel her marriage, etc.
Sebi on Thursday barred 45 entities, including actor Arshad Warsi, his wife Maria Goretti and others, from the securities market in cases related to manipulating the share prices of two companies through uploading misleading videos on YouTube channels. The cases pertains to uploading misleading videos on YouTube channels and recommending investors to buy the shares of Sadhna Broadcast Ltd and Sharpline Broadcast Ltd. Apart from the couple, some of the promoters of Sadhna Broadcast have been restrained from the securities market for their involvement.
Markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) is examining allegations of front-running and other irregularities against a host of domestic fund managers across the asset management industry, said people in the know. Developments at Axis Mutual Fund have prompted the regulator to speed up probe to ensure that there is no drop in confidence in the Rs 39-trillion mutual fund (MF) industry. "We have received complaints against a few fund managers and are looking into possible violations, including those related to code of conduct," said a regulatory source, refusing to divulge names of fund houses as things are at a preliminary stage.
The government has not set up any committee to probe allegations a US short seller labelled against the Adani Group, but stock market regulator SEBI is investigating market allegations against the group, the Lok Sabha was informed on Monday. A separate investigation into imports of Indonesian coal by the conglomerate hasn't reached finality, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary said. Lok Sabha saw several questions being put by MPs to the government on the Adani issue, which were replied through written responses by the minister.
Olympic medallist who fled Belarus forced into exile again as Ukraine attacked
Payments startup BharatPe on Tuesday said it has terminated several employees and vendors as well as filed criminal cases against them for misconduct besides deciding to claw back former founder Ashneer Grover's restricted shares in the firm. The steps have been taken by the company's board following a detailed corporate governance review against the backdrop of alleged lapses and misdoings during the tenure of Grover as managing director. IPO-hopeful BharatPe, which allows shop owners to make digital payments through QR codes, has implemented a new code of conduct for senior management and employees and brought in a comprehensive vendor procurement policy to avoid a repeat of alleged lapses that happened when Grover was managing director.
In Chanda's defence, one can always say, why would the Videocon Group take care of her husband as a quid pro quo to get a loan? After all, the group has taken money from the entire banking industry and ICICI Bank's share in the pie is not even 10 per cent. So, if it had a quid pro quo with Chanda to get the money, it must have had similar arrangements with other banks, too. If this is not the case, one must accept that it had got money from all banks, including ICICI, without any under-the-table conditions, points out Tamal Bandyopadhyay.