Former MD And CEO Of IL&FS Arrested By SFIO Over Alleged Irregularities Which Led To Default

Former managing director and CEO of Infrastructure Leasing & Finance Services Ltd (IL&FS), Ramesh C Bawa, has been arrested in Delhi by the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) today (13 April) for his alleged role in suspected irregularities which triggered a default crisis at the company, reports The Indian Express.

Bawa is the second person who has been picked up by the agency in the case; last week the former chairman and managing director of the company Hari Sankaran was taken into custody by SFIO officials for alleged misuse of his power to approve loans to firms which were not creditworthy.

The IL&FS Group has total liabilities of around Rs 94,000 crore, out of which Rs 17,000 crore were tied to debt instruments and bank loans. Investors in the said debt instruments include mutual funds, pension funds, gratuity funds, as well as public and private sector banks.

The problems at IL&FS came to a head after IL&FS Transportation Networks postponed repayment of some Rs 450 crore in inter-corporate deposits.