Money laundering case leaves questions about Dhillon family involvement

It's difficult to know what to make of a development in the financial fraud saga involving the Singh brothers, Sunil Godhwani, and Gurinder Singh Dhillon, the guru of Radha Soami Satsang Beas.

Godhwani was the guru's right-hand man and personal financial advisor.

An India Today story (see below) says that India's Enforcement Directorate has charged Shivinder and Malvinder Singh, plus Godhwani, with money laundering. But details are lacking as to how and why this occurred, and who the ultimate beneficiary was of the laundered funds.

Also, the story says that the amount of money in question is only Rs 150 crore, which I believe is about $20 million. Yet the total amount Religare Finvest Ltd. reportedly lost via fraudulently diverted funds was 2,397 crore, or over $300 million. So this seems to be an initial step by the Enforcement Directorate, not a final one. 

The company involved here, Star Artworks Pvt Ltd, was one of 21 entities mentioned in a March 2019 Business Today story that I cited in a blog post, "RSSB guru had better have a big bank balance."

I titled the post the way I did because it's been reported that the Dhillon family was the recipient of hundreds of millions of dollars from companies once controlled by the Singh brothers and Godhwani, money that now is being required to be paid back by Indian courts.

A graphic I included in the blog post indicated that the Dhillon family got huge amounts of money via loans from RHC Holding, a holding company of Malvinder and Shivinder Singh. The address of Star Artworks Pvt Ltd. is the same as RHC Holding Pvt Ltd, which points to the tangled web of shell companies and financial transactions that authorities in India are trying to unravel.

Here's the January 10 India Today story.

The Enforcement Directorate Friday filed a charge sheet against former Fortis Healthcare promoters Shivinder Singh and his brother Malvinder before a Delhi court in a case related to alleged misappropriation of funds at Religare Finvest Ltd (RFL).

The final report, filed before Additional Sessions Judge Sandeep Yadav, also named former CMD of Religare Enterprises Ltd (REL) Sunil Godhwani (58) as an accused.

In the charge sheet, filed by ED's Special Public Prosecutor Nitesh Rana, the probe agency has accused all three of money laundering, punishable under sections 3 and 4 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

The court took cognisance of the charge sheet and issued production warrant against them for January 20. All the three accused are currently in judicial custody.

The ED also named RHC Holdings Pvt Ltd as an accused in its charge sheet.

It said the accused had acquired proceeds of crime to the tune of Rs 150 crore through Star Artworks Pvt Ltd, derived out of criminal activities and utilised the amount in repayment of its existing liability towards RFL by projecting it as untainted.

"Therefore, accused persons were involved in acquisition and utilization of proceeds of crime generated out of criminal activities and its projection as untainted property, thereby have committed the offence of money laundering as defined under sections of PMLA," said the charge sheet, filed through advocate A R Aditya.

The ED had alleged that both the brothers, along with others, transferred an amount of about Rs 1,000 crore to various persons from entities linked to the corporate loan book and finally, the money was siphoned off.

The EOW registered an FIR after it received a complaint from RFL's Manpreet Suri against Shivinder, Godhwani and others, alleging that loans were taken by them while managing the firm but the money was invested in other companies.

"They put RFL in a poor financial condition by disbursing loans to companies with no financial standing and controlled by them. The companies to which the loans were disbursed willfully defaulted in repayments and caused a loss to RFL to the tune of Rs 2,397 crore," the police had alleged.

RFL said in a press release that since the time the offence took place, the company has undergone a complete revamp of its Board of Directors.

"All efforts continue to be made to rebuild the business, mobilise fresh capital and correct the transgression and legacy issues of the past. The management and internal controls at the Group and all subsidiaries' level have also been revamped, bringing in much needed assurance to employees about a stable and action-oriented management," it said.

Comments

[Sonia Taylor]

Well, this is unimaginably sad. Unfortunately in India you don’t get “house arrest” especially not for money laundering. But I imagine the Singhs and Godhwani are working closely with the ED by now and will get the lightest sentences.

I do feel so sorry for Nimmi and the families of the Singhs. I think to a certain degree the boys were a bit naive, misguided and ill informed. Not ready to run the family business leading to a premature sale of Ranbaxy. Ugh 😩

[A Smart One]

"Also, the story says that the amount of money in question is only Rs 150 crore, which I believe is about $20 million. Yet the total amount Religare Finvest Ltd. reportedly lost via fraudulently diverted funds was 2,397 crore, or over $300 million. So this seems to be an initial step by the Enforcement Directorate, not a final one."

Brian,

Religare Enterprises Ltd’s (REL) erstwhile promoters, Malvinder and Shivinder Mohan Singh, laundered Rs 2,100 crore along with a co-accused in the fraud case, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) alleged in a charge sheet filed before a local court on Friday.

Source: The Economic Times (by far the most reliable financial newspaper in India)

The co-accused being Sunil Godwani.

There is one other named in the charge sheet - RHC Holdings Pvt Ltd. And it appears RHC Holdings Pvt Ltd involvement in the entire laundering is for Rs150crores.

So it doesn't seem to be just an initial step by ED.

[A Smart One]

And here is an interesting twist in the ongoing Religare saga.

https://www.financialexpress.com/industry/religare-ex-cmd-writes-to-eow-siddharth-mehta-connived-with-singh-brothers-to-siphon-off-funds/1813946/

[A Smart One]

https://www.google.com/amp/s/m.economictimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/religare-fraud-singh-brothers-co-accused-laundered-rs-2100-crores-ed-tells-court/amp_articleshow/73190405.cms

The Economic Times link.

[Whodunit]

It wasn't a premature sale of Ranbaxy it was an overdue one, and a very opportune one at that, because Malvinder had been caught red handed numerous times by FDA prior to the sale for selling under spec medicine and not complying to FDA protection standards with fraudulent tests etc.

It was very good advice to sell and get out of the bungled business only they did not account for Daiichi suing for arbitration to reclaim half a billion bucks. That's the crux of the issue.

Karma is an exacting retribution and if the product was good when the sale took place then the buyer wouldn't have claimed their bucks back. Possibly none of the resulting fallout would have been the case as it played out.

[Meditator]

Heinous web, as alleged, of huge financial transactions ends up into laundering of a few bucks, in proprtion, reported in an inerim conclusion by the ED after few months of intense court monitored investigation.

???

Too much of a reading of . a family saga by the outsiders or ED helpless to nail the subtle tricks.

[Sonia Taylor]

Whodunit,

When GSD advises Malvinder to sell Ranbaxy he knew of the issues happening with the FDA and could have easily foreseen the Daiichi arbitration complication.

[Sonia Taylor]

Karma is an exacting retribution and if the product was good when the sale took place then the buyer wouldn't have claimed their bucks back. Possibly none of the resulting fallout would have been the case as it played out.

Posted by: Whodunit | January 13, 2020 at 07:21 AM

If that’s the case, then karma is going to bite GSD in the ass since he was the orchestrator of the sale.

The ED is going after Gurinder’s sons next. Then Gurinder. It’s standard practice... and I can assure you Shivi Singh is singing. Don’t be fooled.

[Sonia Taylor]

Whoudunit,

It’s interesting the way you’ve set Malvinder up. Making him take the fall. Cunning and baffling. GSD wanted the money, knew the risks, and made sure that he wouldn’t be legally tied to the fallout.

Whose advice was it for the Singh brothers not to settle the arbitration case? What reason did GSD use in advising the brothers not to pay the Daiichi settlement right away? Was it because most of the money had already been loaned out by the time of the settlement order? Or was it because GSD felt it would be an admission of guilt if the brothers settled. And of course the brothers couldn’t be guilty if they had been following guru’s advice. I mean, then they might not continue to follow guru’s advice and quite possibly wouldn’t have continued to loan guru money. And that would be very, very bad for guru, wouldn’t it?

GSD was their “guru”, father figure and financial advisor. He was their be all and end all when it came to taking advice on all matters. They really believed he could do no wrong when they acted upon his advice. In fact, Gurinder believed and still believes that he is infallible, incapable of making mistakes and above the law. Gurinder truly believes he is karmaless. I would LOVE to hear his testimony in court.

The sad truth is, GSD is both fallible and dangerously cunning. He knew how to set everyone up like dominos and was careful to make sure everyone else, including his wife, would be accused first. But the ED sees through that. You may have dotted all your i’s and crossed all your t’s but your fingerprints are on everything.

[Whodunit]

Who said GSD advised to sell?
Do you have specifics on who advocated the sale? Was it not perhaps Godhwani or anyone else?

Fact is Ranbaxy was a sinking ship due to Malvinders own zealous + reckless management of the product quality in chasing unscrupulous profits. They had to get out when they did and Daiichi should have done better due diligence before they sunk their billions into a company they were keen to purchase.

I don't know how the arbitrator gave them the award when it was their onus to validate the state of health of the company they were buying and the quality of the product. Malvinder must have done some fancy footwork to hide the fact that FDA had banned a whole lot of their products before the sale transpired.

[Whodunit]

Shivi is not the one culpable by orchestrating the bad medicine. He's culpable by association as an official officer of the company. Malvinder was driving the business and they fell out between each other a while back as incompatible business partners due to conflict of management style and ethics. I doubt that he'll sell his guru under the bus the way you're so inclined to want to do.
I think it's Godhwani's testimony which may be more interesting. As the CEO who got replaced by the dude Mehta who by sounds of things was colluding with Malvinder contradictory to what was agreed upon at board level.

[Sonia Taylor]

Whodu-

Do you read the newspapers?

[Whodunit]

The arbitration went to court long after the sale. Sale happened in '09 or thereabouts maybe even earlier, and Daiichi filed for arbitration when? Some extension of time later. Money's were long gone invested elsewhere by then by all parties involved.

Where do you come by the conclusion that GSD advised Malvinder not to settle the Daiichi claim when it was Malvinder himself that fought it and denied Ranbaxy culpability from the outset.?

You're trying to make out Malvinder is the hapless innocent victim when it was his doing getting Ranbaxy product cancelled by FDA, and very likely his doing in plenty other shady dealing along the way as Shivi has already testified to in his affidavits and reports regarding their relationship.

[Sonia Taylor]

Don’t think for a minute that Shivinder isn’t going to spill everything now that he’s faced with a 3-7 year prison sentence of manual labor. No contemplating in a cell—rigorous punishment in India for money launders. And Shivi is in the same boat with Sunil and Malav. Next is Gurkeerat and Gurpreet. Then the captain of the ship. This saga is gonna draw out forever...

[Sonia Taylor]

You're trying to make out Malvinder is the hapless innocent victim when it was his doing getting Ranbaxy product cancelled by FDA, and very likely his doing in plenty other shady dealing along the way as Shivi has already testified to in his affidavits and reports regarding their relationship.

Posted by: Whodunit | January 13, 2020 at 02:11 PM

Wasn’t Shivi given some incentives by the guru? You know, his guru-in-training sabbatical at Dera. Why so eager to throw Malav under the bus? An honest man would not have allowed his sons or wife to accept shares from a company he believed to be led by a shady businessman as you suggest Malvinder is. Or perhaps you believe Gurinder is the hapless victim??

[Whodunit]

Sonia it's obvious you've invested so much anticipated antithesis to Gurinder personally that you're looking for every angle to make him your primary enemy no.1. And itching to see him hang for crimes you've concluded via your inadequate information.

Yes I've read the reports and gleaned enough to see who's complicit to which degree, and it's pretty clear that Shivinder and Malvinder though equally liable by way of their joint office sharehold in the business, are definitely not singing from the identical hymn sheet.

You want vengeance while you continue singing forgiveness, your motivation is both flawed and unfounded. Moenie worry nie, the truth will come out and hopefully will prevail. Don't cry too profusely if or when GSD doesn't go to jail.

If Judas sold Jesus to the sanhedrin and Romans, I wonder what kind of 'satsangis' try sell their guru to the Ceasars of the ED sheriff today? I somehow doubt Shivinder has that bent of mind that you portray here on an anonymous blog that cuts zero ice in real terms with what counts in actuality.

[Sonia Taylor]

Look, I think it’s sad that this whole affair has happened. It’s a national scandal. I’m not wishing ill will upon anyone but it does irk me that the guru and Shivi are placing all the blame on Malav. That’s just incredulous to me.

GSD and his family benefited greatly from the sale. I don’t know what went wrong between the two of them (GSD & Malav) but it’s clear that, at least for a while, Shivinder took Gurinder’s side while Malvinder was beginning to question the decisions Gurinder and Gurinder’s right hand man, Godhwani, were making.

I’m sure others on this blog who have followed the ins and outs of this ongoing case far more closely than I will have stronger opinions about GSD’s involvement. I just know that there is no way GSD wasn’t aware of everything going on as it was happening. And if he didn’t know... well then, he’s definitely not the perfect master everyone thinks he is. He should never have accepted the loans/donations/gifts/shares whatever you want to call it. If he hadn’t accepted those things then RSSB wouldn’t be suffering the disgrace that it’s facing today.

[Sonia Taylor]

I don’t have any vengeance towards Gurinder. He’s not my guru and plays no role in my life whatsoever. I would be happier if he did not wind up in jail. But I don’t want him throwing Malvinder under the bus. I don’t think it’s right that the Singh brothers are in jail while the main beneficiaries are indifferent to their plight. It seems like Gurinder doesn’t care about them at all. That’s what bothers me. Why isn’t he speaking on behalf of the Singhs?? They’ve done so much to help him and have put so much trust in him.

In the past, if a disciple was persecuted for following their masters spiritual teachings, at least that would be honorable. But if a disciple is persecuted and imprisoned for laundering money for their guru—well, that’s not honorable in the very least. And Shivi keeping quiet about the truth in order to protect his Master and be “the perfect disciple” is madness. That’s not what a spiritual leader and disciple do—that’s the kind of thing the Mafia does.

[Sonia Taylor]

My goal is to make sure I create as much distance between myself and GSD as possible. Part of that involves speaking what I believe to be true. But I don’t wish for him to go to jail. I just don’t want him in my life and I don’t want him hurting other people.

It’s like a wild animal—I don’t want it in my house and I don’t want it injuring my family or pets but I don’t want to harm or kill it. So, I call animal control. They can put the animal somewhere safe like a zoo or animal rescue farm. Somewhere where it can live a happy wild animal life. But not in my home.

[Sonia Taylor]

It’s like the Frog & the Scorpion. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with being a scorpion. They have their role to play in nature. But the frog must be diligent in remembering that the scorpion is a scorpion and will strike and sting given the change—no fault of the scorpion it’s just his nature. If I allow GSD an inch into my life he will strike and sting because he is a scorpion. It’s not his fault. It’s just nature.

[🌜🌞💥💖🦸🦂🐸🤶😈]

It’s like the Frog & the Scorpion. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with being a scorpion. They have their role to play in nature. But the frog must be diligent in remembering that the scorpion is a scorpion and will strike and sting given the change—no fault of the scorpion it’s just his nature. If I allow GSD an inch into my life he will strike and sting because he is a scorpion. It’s not his fault. It’s just nature.

Posted by: Sonia Taylor | January 13, 2020 at 05:02 PM

The most amazing bit about GSD is that he is exactly what somebody deserves him as.

Gracious, forgiving master to millions, unforgiving to some, a scorpion to some, kal to some, a crook to some etc

🌜🌞💥💖🦸🦂🐸🤶😈

[Sonia Taylor]

🌜🌞💥💖🦸🦂🐸🤶😈

Mmmmm... so eloquently put. Love your use of emojis. You’re a true artist.

https://youtu.be/_l-6wMVaNVo

[Sonia Taylor]

The most amazing bit about GSD is that he is exactly what somebody deserves him as.

Gracious, forgiving master to millions, unforgiving to some, a scorpion to some, kal to some, a crook to some etc

🌜🌞💥💖🦸🦂🐸🤶😈

Posted by: 🌜🌞💥💖🦸🦂🐸🤶😈 | January 13, 2020 at 08:25 PM

“...he is exactly what somebody deserves him as.”

Clearly you’re not talking about God. I mean, not a benevolent loving God. I think what you’re talking about is a fearful, guilt-ridden “god” who created this world and imprisoned himself in it. Then he projected all his fears, worries, guilt as well as hope onto the souls he trapped inside this little snow globe.

Hey, I feel for ya. I really do. Obviously or else I wouldn’t be here... saying this.

[Brendon]

GSD had no direct involvement, so it is likely that legally he cannot be charged.
Sunil Godhwani was acting for him but he will take the rap. Most likely GSD will reward him
handsomely for his loyalty.
His wife would have been in deep shit - but she's dead and dead people cant be sent to jail.
His sons might get implicated unless some insiders are paid off and the case goes no further.
money gets anything done in India.
The three accused serve jail time and it ends there.
The law is not about justice.

[Sonia]

The law is not about justice.

Posted by: Brendon | January 14, 2020 at 06:03 PM

Yep. The law has never been about justice. Power and money almost always corrupt people--there are exceptions but as a rule, those without power or money typically get the short end of the stick. I guess the Singhs just didn't have enough money left to bail themselves out.

[j]

Indeed, the question is where did all the money go? Money can disappear in market speculation, or theft, or be converted into goods or real estate. But money -- $300 million -- can't just disappear.

Some may remember that I came to this forum arguing that Gurinder should be given the benefit of the doubt. I still believe that. However, I keep waiting for news that confirms or even suggests that the missing money didn't end up with the Dhillon family. I keep looking for something that tells me that this thing isn't what it appears to be: A guru using his power to get his followers to make him rich.

I'd like to believe that Gurinder is honest. But we have one of the parties of this scandal directly blaming Gurinder for engineering this mess. Malvinder isn't blaming Gurinder's late wife or other Dhillons, but Gurinder directly. I strain to think of a reason for why Malvinder would think he'd have anything to gain from falsely accusing the guru of Beas.

Then there's the Indian filmmaker who is suing Gurinder for dodging him on a million-dollar loan. As with Malvinder, what possible gain could be had by falsely accusing one of the most popular and powerful figures in India?

There was also the huge sum of money via corporate shares that was gifted to Gurinder's sons

All of that was disturbing to me. But still, I considered that perhaps there are many details I didn't know. I allowed that there could still be a good explanation that would show Gurinder to be blameless. As I'd said before, let the courts decide.

And so a court date did come, but instead of showing up to clear some of these matters up, Gurinder chose instead to make the transparently prevaricatious claim that having diabetes made it impossible to stand before the judge.

Will the day arrive that all these seemingly sordid matters are revealed to be a total misunderstanding? I hold out hope that Gurinder is innocent, not because I'm of a follower of his, but because I've always admired the integrity of RSSB. But as things stand now, it's getting pretty hard for me to imagine that day will arrive.

[gagan]

"GSD had no direct involvement, so it is likely that legally he cannot be charged."

Why GSD went into business and empire building and why he could not lead a content life like a Professor or a Army Men or some simple job ( similar to earlier Gurus).

Does it require to be super rich to handle all the "pressure" the Guru-dom comes with? (Provided he is a true Guru)

I am a RSSB follower but skeptical. My intellect is not yet satisfied, hence this Post.

[Steve]

Yep. The law has never been about justice. Power and money almost always corrupt people--there are exceptions but as a rule, those without power or money typically get the short end of the stick. I guess the Singhs just didn't have enough money left to bail themselves out.

Posted by: Sonia | January 14, 2020 at 06:49 PM

Lol.

Billionaire Bros... With not enough money.

Wake up!!!

[um]

@ J
His uncle, now and then would grab his knees and say to the audience in a firm tone: "Look, this is NOT the master" and after some silence addressing those before him "and you are NOT the disciple".

If that is the case, whatever "this" does is not related to walking a path.

In the bible it says : "love thy parents" and not … only the good ones and not the bad ones.
This advise is for the welfare of the children and has nothing at all to do with the parents, and/or their behaviour.

It is an variation on the same theme that is often found in religious, spiritual and mystic literature … unconditioned love, respect etc. Unconditioned by what appears, even of the object of love. Love is a gift and not a means of payment for delivered goods.

If one comes before them with a complaint about others, invariable they will not stand by one in their feelings, but advise one to be kind …. of course that is often not that easy and can be hurtful …. that is the small and narrow path … love thine enemies.

and … the actions of the "enemies" are for the courts etc to deal with.

His uncle made live much easier or his followers …. that or sure.
Good luck

[Sonia]

I guess the Singhs just didn't have enough money left to bail themselves out.

Posted by: Sonia | January 14, 2020 at 06:49 PM

Lol.

Billionaire Bros... With not enough money.

Wake up!!!

Posted by: Steve | January 15, 2020 at 05:30 AM

One giant cluster f*k

They had to come up with enough to pay Daiichi (half a Billion) and they were a little short... 🤭

If they had paid the Daiichi settlement order then the money laundering issue wouldn’t have come up.

However, since they didn’t pay the settlement order, their bank accounts and assets were frozen. And then the money laundering thing got real.

No dinero for bail. 😕 I’m not even sure they were offered bail. I dunno know. Just a big sucky situation all ‘round.

[Sonia]

@gagan

Contentment is a beautiful thing.

“Be content with what you have;
rejoice in the way things are.
When you realize there is nothing lacking,
the whole world belongs to you.”
~ Lao Tzu

[Di]

@Um In the bible it says : "love thy parents" and not … only the good ones and not the bad ones.
This advise is for the welfare of the children and has nothing at all to do with the parents, and/or their behaviour.

I am reminded of a saying by Bhai Gurdas when he was intoxicated with ego of a perfect disciple, that "if a mother lives improper life, son should not judge her. However, once humbled, his words changed to what is a poor son to do if the mother feeds him poison?"

IMO, our lives, as we understand them, are plays of our minds and egos. We adopt whatever works (to avoid ego dystonia.) Unless, we are fortunate or blessed enough to have a much greater understanding of human nature and purpose.
Sardar bahadurji has set the bar very high for all seekers of truth by stating one doesn't joins the truth (become a satsangi) just by being initiated. One's words, deeds, and thoughts have to of highest standards.
In my humble opinion this applies to all seekers and those who claim to know or are with the Truth.

[Um]

@ Di

I have read your answer trice but cannot figure out what it is you wanted to convey in relation to what I wrote.
Please rephrase it if you can.

[Di]

Um, sorry for the confusion. The bible phrase "love thy parents" not just the good ones...reminded me of bhai Gurdas.
The rest is just general comment in response to what I have been reading here.

[j]

Di: In other words, if the guru screws you (or up), the good satsangi is humble, and knows that the apparent hypocrisy and ethical errors of the guru are to be borne with the grace of the true understanding. What is this true understanding? As Sam Harris would say it's a self-justifying perpetual motion machine of self-deception. Discerning faults in the guru, however kleig light glaring, is evidence our and not His ego. And so "the Path" rolls along...

[A Wise 🦉]

https://m.economictimes.com/news/company/corporate-trends/malvinder-and-shivinder-mohan-singh-used-public-money-to-settle-personal-liabilities-eow/amp_articleshow/73507708.cms

Once again it turns out it's Singh Bros and entities controlled by them.