Coffee Day Enterprises fund diversion case: Sebi imposes Rs 1 cr fine on Mysore Amalgamated Coffee
New Delhi, Mar 27: Capital markets regulator Sebi on Monday imposed a Rs 1 crore penalty on Mysore Amalgamated Coffee Estates for 'aiding and abetting' Coffee Day Enterprises in the diversion of funds to the tune of Rs 3,535 crore.
The company was directed to pay the fine within 45 days, according to an order passed by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi).
Mysore Amalgamated Coffee Estates Ltd (MACEL) and Coffee Day Enterprises Ltd (CDEL) are controlled by the same set of persons -- Late VG Siddhartha (VGS) and his family members.
''Noticee 1 (MACEL) was nothing but a pass-through entity which has effectively aided and abetted VGS in the act of diverting funds to the tune of Rs 3,535 crore from subsidiaries of CDEL to Noticee 1 and from Noticee 1 to entities controlled by VGS & his relatives and has thus violated the provisions of SEBI Act and PFUTP) Prohibition of Fraudulent and Unfair Trade Practices) Regulations,'' Sebi said in its order.
Such diversion of funds was never disclosed to the investors till the time of the death of VGS, it added.
Accordingly, the regulator has imposed ''a penalty of Rs 1 crore on Noticee 1 i.e, Mysore Amalgamated Coffee Estates Limited''.
VG Siddhartha, who was the Chairman of the Coffee Day Group, reportedly committed suicide in July 2019. It was reported that he had left behind a suicide note addressed to the board of directors and Coffee Day family wherein he revealed that he was in deep debt.
After Siddhartha's passing away, the CDEL board engaged the services of Ashok Kumar Malhotra, retired DIG of the Central Bureau of Investigation, and Agastya Legal LLP in September 2019 to investigate the company's books of accounts and its subsidiaries.
Sebi had also initiated an investigation into the matter on its own to ascertain whether funds were diverted to related entities, which resulted in a possible violation of regulatory norms and the period of investigation was from April 2018 to March 2020.
In January, Sebi had slapped imposed a penalty of Rs 26 crore on Coffee Day Enterprises, which runs Cafe Coffee Day, for the diversion of funds from subsidiaries to a company related to promoters.
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Kangana Ranaut shown black flags in Himachal's Lahaul and Spiti, BJP files complaint with CEO
Shimla, May 20: Actor Kangana Ranaut, BJP candidate from the Mandi parliamentary constituency, was shown black flags by local people and Congress workers at Kaza in Lahaul and Spiti on Monday.
The Himachal Pradesh BJP filed a complaint with the state chief electoral officer (CEO) demanding transfer of election officials and an investigation into the incident as both the BJP and the Congress were given permission to hold rallies adjacent to each other.
The Congress workers raised anti-Kangana slogans - "Kangana, go back, Kangana Vangana nahi chalegi". They were apparently enraged over her remarks on Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama in April last year.
Ranaut had tweeted a meme featuring the Dalai Lama that said, "The Dalai Lama receives a warm welcome at the White house". The photoshopped picture in the tweet showed the Dalai Lama sticking his tongue out with US President Joe Biden with a comment - Both of them have the same illness, definitely they could be friends.
Following this, a group of Buddhists staged a dharna outside her office in Mumbai.
Later she apologised saying she didn't mean to hurt anyone, and it was a harmless joke about Biden being friends with the Dalai Lama.
Leader of the Opposition in the Himachal Pradesh Assembly Jai Ram Thakur, who had accompanied Ranaut to Kaza to campaign for the BJP, on Monday alleged that the Congress workers tried to disturb the meeting of the BJP and pelted stones on their carcade while they were returning.
Talking to reporters, he said, "It is unfortunate that for the first time, permission was given to hold a parallel rally at the venue to the Congress where prior permission was already granted to the BJP to hold the rally.
Efforts were made to disturb our rally and the Congress workers raised shameful slogans, stopped our carcade and pelted stones, injuring one person."
Thakur added that they go for campaigning all over the state but such things have happened for the first time, which shows "frustration" of the Congress and they would take up the issue with the Election Commission.
Later, in a complaint filed with the Himachal Pradesh CEO, BJP state office secretary Parmod Kumar Thakur said the Congress workers allegedly tried to illegally restrain the political procession and even pelted stones and demanded an investigation into the incident.
"The district administration granted permission for organising a political meeting to the Congress adjacent to the place already scheduled to hold a political meeting of the BJP at Kaza under undue influence of the state government in utter violation of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC)", he said.
In the complaint, the BJP demanded the immediate transfer of election officials from Lahaul and Spiti and said giving permission to both the parties at the same location at the same time was a "big lapse" on the part of the Election Commission "in spite of the fact that permission to the BJP was provided first and the officers involved in this act are biased against the BJP, and free and fair elections are doubtful under the circumstances."
Lahaul and Spiti SP Mayank Chowdhary told PTI that workers of both the BJP and the ruling Congress came face to face but there was no clash and no person was injured. However, one worker sprained his leg, he added.
Bhishan Shashni, Congress election coordinator for Lahaul and Spiti claimed that the Congress workers were peacefully protesting but a large number of people, who were hurt by Ranaut's remarks about the Tibetan spiritual leader, joined the protest.
Earlier, Congress candidate from the Mandi Lok Sabha seat Vikramaditya Singh had asked why Ranaut did not visit Spiti and returned from Reckong Peo alleging that she was afraid she would be shown black flags for her remarks against the Dalai Lama.
