Fortis Board unable to determine if fraud has occurred, says auditor

Independent auditor of the Fortis Healthcare, Deloitte Haskins & Sells LLP today said the Board of Fortis Healthcare are unable at present to determine whether a fraud has occurred on the company.

"At this juncture, the Board of Directors of the company are unable to make a determination on whether a fraud has occurred on the company in respect of the matters covered in the investigation by the external legal firm...," the auditor said in its report.

This is considering the limitations on the information available to the external legal firm and their qualifications and disclaimers as described in the investigation report, it added.

Fortis Healthcare had earlier said that markets regulator Sebi has ordered a forensic audit in the matter of the company, which has admitted to systemic lapses in giving Rs 4.94 billion loans to firms controlled by erstwhile promoters -- Malvinder and Shivinder Singh.

The company, on June 27, had said that it had initiated legal action to recover the inter-corporate deposits (ICDs) given to the three firms after an external investigation found "systemic lapses and override of controls" in the loan given.

The loans were given without Board approval and enough collaterals, it had said.