Lakshmi Vilas Bank shares tumble after FIR against board members for cheating and conspiracy

Shares of Lakshmi Vilas Bank (LVB) tumbled by 4.8 per cent on Friday after the Economic Offences Wing registered a first information report (FIR) against its board directors.

The FIR was registered under complaint for offences of cheating, criminal breach of trust by banker, criminal misappropriation and criminal conspiracy under the Indian Penal Code 1860, LVB said in a regulatory filing at stock exchanges.

"The FIR is based on a complaint filed by Religare Finvest Ltd (RFL) pertaining to adjustment of their deposits to the dues of RHC Holding Pvt Ltd and Ranchem Pvt Ltd. The same was received at the bank's end on September 25," LVB said adding that it is considering appropriate legal measures to counter the same.

Established in 1926, LVB is one of the oldest private sector banks based out of Tamil Nadu. As on March 31, its net advances stood at Rs 20,103 crore and deposits at Rs 29,279 crore.

The bank's board of directors has approved the scheme of amalgamation to effect its merger with lndiabulls Housing Finance Ltd and its wholly-owned subsidiary lndiabulls Commercial Credit Ltd. The scheme is subject to regulatory and shareholders' approval.

LVB's rating has been constrained by its moderate size, regional nature of operations, weak asset quality parameters and weak capitalisation levels.

At 11:30 am, LVB was trading 4.81 per cent lower at Rs 36.60 per share.