Auditor who exposed Harshad Mehta scam to do forensic audit of Amrapali
PrintListen to this Article
Mehta, a stockbroker, was charged with numerous financial crimes that took place in the Securities Scam of 1992 worth around Rs 45 bn.
He was involved in a massive stock manipulation scheme and his firm brokered transactions between banks.
A bench of Justices Arun Mishra and U U Lalit have appointed two auditors -- CA Ravi Bhatia of Bhatia and Bhatia; and CA Pawan Kumar Aggarwal of Sharp and Company -- to conduct the forensic audits of Amrapali Group companies.
"We have appointed two auditors to do forensic audit. One of them has investigated Harshad Mehta scam and other is equally experienced, reputed and competent", the bench said.
It directed that the documents and details including bank accounts, balance sheets of all the 46 companies including Jotindra Steel since 2008 till now should be given to forensic auditors.
The top court also appointed NBCC to develop the stalled projects and directed Debts Recovery Tribunal of Delhi to sell the unencumbered commercial properties of real estate firm Amrapali Group.
It directed an escrow account to be opened in the apex court in which amount received after sale of properties of Amrapali should be deposited and later dispersed to NBCC for starting construction of the pending projects in Group A and B Categories.
Home buyers have move the apex court seeking refund or flats from Amrapali which is facing insolvency proceedings. They have accused the realty firm of fraud and inordinate delays in giving possession of homes.
NBCC had offered to the court that it can start construction on the 15 stalled projects with a capital of Rs 10 bn and the remaining amount of Rs 75 bn could be given in quarterly installments of Rs 2.5 bn.
The top court had also brought CMD of Amrapali Group Anil Sharma under its scanner for declaring his assets worth Rs 670 million, as against Rs 8.47 bn, in his election affidavit filed during the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. He had unsuccessfully contested as a JD(U) candidate from Bihar's Jehanabad constituency.
The NBCC had given a proposal for completion of 15 residential projects of Amrapali having 46,575 flats at an estimated cost of Rs 85 bn in 6-36 months. #casansaar (Source - PTI, Business Standard)
Category : Auditing | Comments : 0 | Hits : 1396
In a boost to the National Financial Reporting Authority (NFRA), the regulator for auditors and audit firms dealing with large and listed companies, the Supreme Court has upheld an order by the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) related to disciplinary action against errant auditors. Last month, the apex court dismissed an appeal filed by chartered accountant Sam Varghese, partner at K Varghese & Co. Varghese was one of the four auditors against whom NFRA had acted, and in...
Hindustan Unilever Ltd. has announced that its cost auditor has been disqualified from continuing amid a conflict of interest. The decision was made after it was discovered that Rasesh Vipin Chokshi, who is a partner at the firm R.A. & Co., was holding shares in the company. According to the Companies Act, 2013, a cost auditor cannot hold any shares in the company for which they're auditing the costs. Following this violation, M/S R.A. & Co. has been asked to vac...
The Bombay High Court has granted bail to Anita Kirdat, a former concurrent auditor of the Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative (PMC) Bank, in connection with a multi-crore loan fraud case. Kirdat, 48, a chartered accountant (CA) from Bhandup, who runs a firm, Anita Kirdat and Company, was arrested by the Economic Offence Wing of Mumbai Police in 2019 in the PMC Bank scam. She served as the concurrent auditor of PMC Bank from 2005 to 2019. She was alleged to have been appointed at the behest...
Tighter regulations and lower fees are making the auditing profession challenging, said panelists at an international conference held by the National Financial Reporting Authority (NFRA) here on Tuesday. “The business model of pure audit is under significant pressure. It’s getting tighter and tighter from the point of avoiding conflict,” said Uday Kotak, former managing director and CEO of Kotak Mahindra Bank. Stating that regulators would want the best of talent in the audi...
The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG), Girish Chandra Murmu, on Friday announced the setting up of the Supreme Audit Institution India’s International Centre for Audit of Local Governance (iCAL) in Rajkot, Gujarat. At the conclusion of the three-day international conference on ‘Strengthening of Grass Roots Democracy and Accountability’, Mr. Murmu said local governments played a pivotal role in shaping the lives of citizens. Effective accounting platforms and aud...
Comments