Under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) has searched 16 locations in Chennai, Mumbai, and Delhi. These locations included the offices and homes of Securekloud Technologies Limited, a publicly traded company, Pro Fin Capital Services Limited, Quantum Global Securities Limited (QGSL), another publicly traded company, Unity Global Financial Services Pvt Limited, and Desert River Capital Pvt Ltd, share brokerage and financial services companies.
Based on FIR 39/2019, which was filed by Suresh Venkatachari, the promoter and CEO of Securekloud Technologies Limited (STL), before CCB-I Chennai on February 2, 2019, under sections 420, 465, 468, 471, and 120B of the IPC against QGSL and its Directors and Mr Rohit Arora, the ED has opened a money laundering investigation. A case was filed under PMLA since the FIR included scheduled offences under sections 420, 471, and 120B of the IPC. Securekloud Technologies Limited (STL), a software and IT services provider with offices in India and the USA, was formerly known as 8k Miles Software Services Limited.
A complaint was made against various stockbrokers and financial service providers who sold the STL promoter’s pledged shares in order to get loans secured by STL shares. In addition, it was alleged in the case that the share brokers who had given out loans had falsified signatures on Delivery Instruction slips and had off-market sales of the shares.
According to the PMLA investigation, the directors and beneficial owners of these share brokerage and financial services businesses moved shares worth Rs. 160 crore off-market before selling them to make significant monetary gains from criminal activity. The investigation also showed that the complaint made by the STL Promoter was false because he and his CFO were complicit in a larger scheme to defraud the public by inflating the company’s books and diverting funds to unrelated businesses owned by companies in which the CFO and CEO of STL had stakes.
Even the doubtful share price manipulation activity being carried out by some dishonest share traders with the tacit approval and complicity of high management of STL was seen, and the same is being investigated. From the standpoint of money laundering, a bigger conspiracy including promoters of publicly traded businesses and share brokerage firms that have allegedly given loans and disposed of away company shares are being looked at.
The searches conducted in this case resulted in the discovery of cash, gold, and diamond jewellery valued at Rs. 1.04 crore, the identification of immovable properties worth more than Rs. 30 crore and other movable assets in various DMAT accounts, the seizure of incriminating documents, and the discovery of digital pieces of evidence. Further research is now being conducted.
