The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has directed two firms, Mohanbir Hi-Tech Pvt Ltd and Indian Agri Services Pvt Ltd, to pay a combined penalty of Rs 520 million within 15 days over their role in the illegal fund diversion case involving Reliance Home Finance Ltd (RHFL). Each firm faces a demand of Rs 260 million, inclusive of interest and recovery costs. Failure to comply will result in SEBI attaching and auctioning the firms' assets and bank accounts.

This notice follows SEBI’s earlier crackdown on RHFL and affiliated entities, where six entities, including RHFL and former officials, were ordered to pay Rs 1.29 billion for fund diversion. In a separate action earlier in November, SEBI demanded Rs 1.54 billion from RHFL's promoter entity Crest Logistics and Engineers, now known as CLE Pvt Ltd.

The market regulator has also taken action against industrialist Anil Ambani, barring him and 24 others from the securities market for five years, imposing a Rs 250 million fine on Ambani, and prohibiting him from holding director or Key Managerial Personnel (KMP) roles in listed firms for five years due to his involvement in the RHFL fund diversion case.

(ET)