Sebi has settled a case involving Lloyds Enterprises and former executives Rajesh Rajnarayan Gupta and Viresh Shankar Sohoni after ₹4.16 crore was paid. According to reports from The Economic Times, the matter involved alleged disclosure, accounting and market conduct violations concerning ₹144.82 crore in advances. The case relates to alleged violations of listing and market conduct rules, including provisions of the Sebi LODR Regulations and PFUTP Regulations. As per Mint, the applicants settled the proceedings while not admitting guilt.
Sebi's investigation found that Lloyds Enterprises had not recognised expected credit losses on advances of ₹144.82 crore outstanding from Cheerful Trade & Realty Developers Pvt Ltd and Triumph Trade & Properties Developers Pvt Ltd during FY17 to FY21. As reported by The Economic Times, this was required under Ind-AS 109 and the company had overstated advances in its financial statements. The regulator also discovered that the company had deployed a scheme under which ₹144.82 crore of funds were transferred to the two entities in FY07 for the benefit of promoters or their related entities. According to Mint, the funds were lent at zero interest and without an agreement, causing loss to the listed company.
According to the settlement order, Cheerful Trade & Realty Developers and Triumph Trade & Properties Developers were related parties of Lloyds Enterprises under LODR Regulations, but the company failed to disclose them as related parties in its annual reports from FY17 to FY23. As reported by The Economic Times, Gupta and Sohoni held the posts of managing director and chief financial officer, respectively, during the relevant period. The funds were lent at nil interest and without any agreement, which caused loss to the listed company.
The High-Powered Advisory Committee considered the revised settlement terms at its meeting on May 27, 2026 and recommended that the case be settled. As reported by The Economic Times, Lloyds Enterprises was asked to pay ₹1.28 crore, while Gupta and Sohoni were asked to pay ₹1.44 crore each. The recommendations were later approved by the panel of Sebi whole-time members on July 15, 2026. Sebi issued demand notices on July 21, 2026, and the applicants informed the regulator in August that the amounts had been remitted. According to Mint, with the settlement order, Sebi confirmed that it will not initiate enforcement action against the applicants for the specified violations, though it retains the right to take appropriate action if settlement undertakings are breached.
According to the settlement order, as part of later developments in the matter, Lloyds Enterprises received a 7% partnership interest in Lloyds Metals & Minerals Trading LLP in FY24 in lieu of the ₹144.82 crore advances. As reported by The Economic Times, the LLP had a total net worth of ₹5,852.64 crore in FY24. The case started after Sebi received an alert report from BSE on November 21, 2023 regarding irregularities related to advances reported by Lloyds Enterprises. The matter involved a company with several businesses including metals, mining and real estate.
