Topsgrup promoter Rahul Nanda ‘siphoned’ off Rs186 crore: ED

Sources said the agency has allegedly found financial records that show deposits from Topsgrup to the personal accounts of Nanda in UK

An Enforcement Directorate (ED) probe has alleged that Rahul Nanda, the promoter of Topsgrup Services and Solutions Ltd — a company accused of cheating Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), has “siphoned” Rs 186 crore from Topsgrup companies through remittances to his “personal accounts and accounts of friends and family”, sources told The Indian Express.

Phone calls and texts to Nanda did not elicit any response.

Sources said the agency has allegedly found financial records that show deposits from Topsgrup to the personal accounts of Nanda in UK. It has also found copies of gift deeds made by Nanda to allegedly transfer money to his offshore accounts through “unrelated persons and companies”. The ED has alleged that Topsgrup loaned money to two of its foreign subsidiary companies — Topsgrup Security BV in Netherlands and Topsgrup Security UK Ltd, which was subsequently used by Nanda for personal use. These loans were subsequently written off in the books of the Indian company, said sources. The company also used to transfer money for maintenance of Nanda’s two properties in the UK — Manor House and Huntergate House, the ED has alleged as per sources.

Indian banks have initiated bankruptcy proceedings in the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), under Section 7 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), against Topsgrup Services as it has defaulted on loan repayment of over 13 million pounds (about 134 crore).

The probe agency has also informed a money laundering court in Mumbai that Topsgrup ‘s investment of Rs 130 crore in Shield Guarding Company Ltd, a UK firm acquired by it in 2012, was written off from its books of accounts “without any documentary filings”. The ED has alleged that Nanda created a “benami company”, Tops Force, controlled by his son-in-law and diverted all the clients of Tops Security to this firm “to avoid statutory dues that had accumulated in the Tops Security”. The ED is investigating Topsgrup, Nanda and Shiv Sena legislator Pratap Sarnaik under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

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