ED conducts raid at premises of Manappuram Finance in Kerala on money laundering charges

The raids were being carried out to acquire evidence on claims that the company had collected public deposits totaling more than 150 crores in violation of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) regulations.  

Thrissur: As part of a money laundering probe against Manappuram Finance, the Enforcement Directorate today searched several locations connected to the non-banking financial organisation, according to official sources.

They said that the raids were being carried out to acquire evidence on claims that the company had collected public deposits totaling more than 150 crores in violation of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) regulations.

They told Press Trust of India that four locations, including the company's Thrissur headquarters and its promoters' homes, are being searched.

An email sent to the company did not elicit an immediate response.

The agency, according to sources, suspects "large-scale" cash transactions by the company and is looking at gathering documents and recording statements of the company executives in this context.

Meanwhile, Shares of Manappuram Finance Ltd slumped over 9% in Wednesday's trading session following ED's search. Additionally, searches were conducted at the promoter VP Nandakumar's office and home.

Manappuram Finance Ltd. is one of India's gold loan NBFCs. It was founded in 1949 in the coastal village of Valapad (Thrissur district) by the late V.C. Padmanabhan. The firm was involved in pawn broking and money lending carried out on a modest scale.  Nandakumar, the current MD and CEO, took over the reins in 1986 after his father expired.

(With PTI Inputs)