SEBI on Tuesday barred ousted former Chairman of CG Power and Industrial Solutions, Gautam Thapar, and three others from accessing the securities market until further orders.
EBI said Thapar and others had done a “fraud” on public investors. The actions of Thapar and others have led to shareholders losing value, the order noted.
“Gautam Thapar, VR Venkatesh, Madhav Acharya and B Hariharan are restrained from accessing the securities market, and are further prohibited from buying, selling or otherwise dealing in securities in any manner whatsoever, either directly or indirectly, till further orders,” the SEBI said.
It also noted that CG Power’s probe report indicated “serious misstatement of accounts and fund diversion.” It has also directed BSE to appoint an independent auditor to audit CG Power’s books from FY16 onwards.
In August, the company had in a notice to exchanges said that an investigation instituted by its board had found major governance and financial lapses. It included assets being provided as collateral and the money from loans siphoned off by “identified company personnel, both current and past, including certain non-executive directors.”
The board removed Thapar as Chairman following a preliminary investigation which revealed that money was siphoned off from the company. CG Power had disclosed that the advances to related and unrelated parties have been potentially understated by ₹1,990.36 crore and ₹2,663 crore, respectively, as of March 31, 2018. Thapar has denied these allegations.