Rajesh Exports probe deepens after SEBI findings
Weeks after the SEBI findings of inflated invoices of more than Rs.15 lakh crore, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday conducted searches against Rajesh Exports. The case is registered under FEMA (Foreign Exchange Management Act), after finding huge foreign fund inflow and outflow to Rajesh Exports’ linked firms operating in foreign countries.
The ED raids are happening at Bengaluru and Mumbai, said officials. Rajesh Exports Ltd allegedly inflated its consolidated revenues by more than Rs.15 lakh crore over five years by attributing massive revenues to overseas subsidiaries, particularly Switzerland-based Valcambi SA, despite the subsidiary’s audited standalone financial statements showing only a fraction of those amounts, according to an interim order by SEBI.
According to investigators, the firm headed by Rajesh Metha had siphoned the majority of the funds from India to Switzerland-based Valcambi SA, a gold refinery. This refinery is believed to be owned by Rajesh Mehta.
The regulator has restrained the company’s Chairman and Managing Director, Rajesh Mehta, from buying, selling, or dealing in securities of Rajesh Exports, either directly or indirectly, until further orders. As per a detailed analysis of the TransUnion CIBIL data filed by Canara Bank, Rajesh Exports owes a total of Rs.2,458 crores, and the loan amount is split into six entries of Rs.409 each. Canara Bank is now conducting recovery suits at the Debt Recovery Tribunal (DRT) in Chennai, and three Directors of the company are shown as personal guarantors to these loans. The directors shown as personal guarantors are Rajesh Mehta and his partners, Prashant Mehta and S Paramasivan.
Rajesh Exports has also filed a counter case in DRT against the bank, seeking a loss of more than Rs.20,456 crore. However, DRT in 2023 dismissed the company’s claim, citing that they produced fake bills. The 2023 order observes that Rajesh Exports diverted funds from Canara Bank through its subsidiary, Valcambi SA, in Switzerland.
Interestingly, Canara Bank has neither approached the Central Bureau of Investigation nor the Enforcement Directorate (ED) with complaints against Rajesh Exports and its directors, though it filed a civil recovery case of Rs.452 crore in 2021. Why Canara Bank did not approach the CBI and the ED despite Rajesh Exports producing fake bills against the bank is a billion-dollar question.[1]
Reference:
[1] Rajesh Exports puzzle gets bigger – Jun 8, 2026, J Gopikrishnan
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