SFIO sends notices to 9 companies led by Niira Radia

The Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) has issued notices to nine companies, associated with corporate lobbyist Niira Radia, seeking detailed information regarding financial accounts and transactions in the last few years, an official in the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) said.

SFIO, the investigative wing of the ministry, started probing the case in July after the Registrar of Companies (RoC) sent a report to MCA showing prima facie evidence against companies of the Niira Radia group for violations of various provisions of the Companies Act, 1956. Following the findings, the ministry referred the case to SFIO for further investigation.

The nine companies under scrutiny are Vaishnavi Corporate Communications, Vaishnavi Advisory Services, Leisure Clubs India, Claro Consultancy, Magic Airlines, Maansi Agro, Crownmart International India, Vitcom Consulting, and Neucom Consulting Pvt Ltd.

When contacted, Radia’s spokesperson did not offer any comment.

Union Minister of Corporate Affairs M Veerappa Moily confirmed notices had been sent. “It is a serious matter. We have got some prima facie report that there are lapses and therefore we have referred it to SFIO for further investigation,” Moily said.

According to the official, SFIO, currently in the preliminary stage of investigation, is expected to give its final report to MCA by November

Radia was in the news following leakage of her conversation with high-profile businessmen, ministers and journalists with regard to the allocation of telecom spectrum. At that time, her clients included powerful business houses like the Tata Group, Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries and Unitech. However, last year in October, Radia decided to shut the communication consultancy business which had high-profile clients.

According to the RoC report, the Radia group of companies, including Vaishnavi Advisory Services, Noesis Strategic Consulting Services, and Vaishnavi Corporate Communications, “have accounted for bulk revenue from consultancy business from Tata Group of companies and Unitech Ltd”, the official said.

SFIO has also sought information and important documents related to the investigation from RoC.

The RoC report also pointed to various disclosures having not been made in the balance sheets, including the nature of consultancy from which it earned revenue. RoC gave the report after examining the balance sheets of the companies for the years 2008-09 and 2009-10 and has reported non-compliances by all these.