Mumbai, Jun 2 A court here on Tuesday issued a summons to Rashmi Saluja, former executive chairperson of Religare Enterprises Ltd (REL), and four others in connection with a money laundering case linked to Employee Stock Option Plans (ESOPs).
Besides Saluja, the special court for the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) cases issued a notice and summons to former President and General Counsel of REL Nishant Singhal, former Group Chief Finance Officer Nitin Aggarwal, and two others.
All of them were asked to be present on June 11.
Special Judge R B Rote noted that the alleged offence was serious.
"The economic offence involves huge loss to public funds, affecting the economy of the country, and poses a serious threat to the financial stability and health of the country," the court said, adding that the prosecution complaint registered by the Enforcement Directorate cannot be dismissed at this stage.
The prosecution complaint and the statements of witnesses as well as the accused prima facie showed that there were sufficient grounds for proceeding against the accused under the PMLA, it added.
The ED's case is based on a police complaint registered against the accused for alleged criminal conspiracy and cheating in 2024.
The accused allegedly bribed a person to register a bogus FIR against members of the Delhi-based Burman family, who are REL shareholders, with an intent to stop them from taking control of the company.
The objective behind the conspiracy was to ensure that the accused continued to enjoy sole control and various financial benefits, including illegal ESOPs, the ED said.
An ESOP programme allows employees to become partial owners of a company by acquiring its shares.
The ED estimated the proceeds of crime to be Rs 179.54 crore.
The special court took into account the order passed by the Bombay High Court dismissing Saluja and the other accused's petitions to quash the ED complaint while noting that there was prima facie material against them.
