SFIO wants DSK Group promoters to be prosecuted

NEW DELHI: The Serious Fraud Investigation Office has recommended prosecution of the promoters of Pune-based DSK Group in a Rs 2,043-crore scam for allegedly diverting funds and swindling investors.Deepak Kulkarni and his wife Hemanti Kulkarni, who served as chief financial officer, allegedly siphoned funds from the group and defrauded thousands of investors across Maharashtra.The SFIO has submitted its report to the ministry of corporate affairs, a government official said.The DSK Group is a conglomerate with operations in sectors including real estate, automobiles and education.The SFIO has alleged in its report that the Kulkarnis created a partnership firm that would accept deposits from homebuyers and then lend those funds to another group entity, DSK Developers. This would saddle the company with an “additional interest burden” to pay off, besides the construction of houses.DSK Developers would then utilise funds borrowed from banks to pay back the intermediary partnership firm, said the official who was privy to the report. The official also said the duo used two shell companies to siphon funds by making payments for goods and services that were never delivered.“They would give advances for supplies and construction through these two companies, but these were not rendered and the advances were not returned. Both companies had no transactions, no income and no revenue and were only used as a conduit,” the official said.Both Deepak and Hemanti Kulkarni are currently in police custody. The case is also being investigated by the Economic Offence Wing of the Pune Police and the Enforcement Directorate.The chargesheet filed by the Pune police alleged that the group had collected funds from over 33,000 investors. The ED had attached DSK Group’s properties worth Rs 904 crore in February under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

from Economic Times http://bit.ly/2WwK4eQ