CBI has registered an FIR against Saxena alleging that his company had bribed Bansal to ensure that he does not order an SFIO inspection against his company Elder Pharmaceuticals for charges of illegal collection of Rs 175 crore from 24,000 investors, diverting funds to companies abroad, and not making returns on due time, agency sources said.
Calls made to Alok Saxena, Director Elder Pharma, remained unanswered. The email sent to the ID given on the company's website also remained unresponded.
Saxena who is Chief Operating Officer, Chairman cum Managing Director, has not been arrested by CBI which has already taken into custody Bansal, middleman Vishwadeep Bansal and two more private persons.
The case emanated from complaints received by Registrar of Companies in the Ministry of Corporate Affairs from investors who had alleged that Elder Pharmaceuticals has collected over Rs 175 crore from over 24,000 investors under Companies' Acceptance of Deposits Rule, they said.
The company had allegedly lured them offering attractive rates of interest ranging from 9.5 per cent to 11.5 per cent to investors on deposits ranging from a 12-36 month period. Over 1000 such complaints were made to RoC, they said.
The ministry suspected alleged misuse and diversion of funds to subsidiary companies, joint venture companies and overseas entities, the sources said.
The report alleged that 9.8 million pounds were transferred to Elders International FZCO to purchase shared in British company Nutra Health PLC, 10 million Euros were transferred to Dubai-based subsidiary, three million Euros transferred to acquire a Bulgarian entity, an advance of GBP 1.9 lakh were given to a firm besides remittances to JV partners in Nepal, they said.
The report recommended a Serious Fraud Inspection Office inspection into these allegations, the sources said.
The final authority to give opinion whether SFIO inspection can be ordered or not is Director General Corporate Affairs (An Additional Secretary level post) to which Bansal (Indian Corporate Law Service) officer was appointed last year, CBI sources said.
"The Director General, Corporate Affairs allegedly demanded a bribe of Rs 50 lakh for not recommending investigation by the SFIO on the inspection report and finally, the Delhi-based middleman (Vishwadeep) negotiated Rs 20 lakh. The accused officer had earlier allegedly accepted Rs 11 lakh and was demanding the balance amount of Rs 9 lakh," CBI spokesperson said.
The sources said during investigation they have found a draft letter rejecting the recommendation of SFIO inspection in the matter.
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