Congress raises questions on ‘substantial’ LIC stake in firm under SEBI scanner

The Congress on Thursday (June 4, 2026) flagged that LIC owns around 10.8% of Rajesh Exports, that is currently under SEBI scanner, and said this raises the question of whether LIC’s acquisition of such a “substantial stake” was driven by instructions from the ruling ecosystem.

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said SEBI has, in an interim report dated June 3 2026, alleged a “gigantic scam” involving a high-flying company called Rajesh Exports which is in the gold refining and jewellery business.

SEBI says that there has been a massive misrepresentation of revenues spanning a five year period 2020/21-2024/25 that could amount to a staggering ₹15 lakh crore, Mr. Ramesh pointed out.

“This is a mind-boggling number. Investigations are continuing and a final report is awaited,” the Congress general secretary in-charge communications said.

What is particularly disturbing is that LIC owns around 10.8% of Rajesh Exports, he said.

Banks too have considerable exposure to this clearly politically influential company, Mr. Ramesh added.

How could LIC have missed such a huge fraud taking place in a company in which it has a substantial stake, the Congress leader asked.

“This raises the question of whether LIC’s acquisition of such a substantial stake was driven by instructions from the ruling ecosystem,” Mr. Ramesh said.

Capital markets regulator SEBI on Wednesday (June 3) barred Rajesh Exports Ltd’s promoter and CEO Rajesh Mehta from dealing in the company’s securities, alleging large-scale misrepresentation of financial statements and diversion of funds.

The regulator also directed the company to make true and fair disclosures of their financial statements, related party transactions and other disclosures under the Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements (LODR) regulations.

In a 109-page interim order, SEBI said its investigation has revealed misrepresentation in financial statements as well as instances of routing and layering of funds through personal accounts and related entities without adequate disclosures or supporting documentation.

The markets watchdog said the company was issued repeated summons and given several opportunities to furnish true and fair financial statements, complete records explaining the end-use, business rationale and ultimate beneficiaries of such fund flows, but there was no satisfactory response.

SEBI also flagged non-cooperation by REL’s statutory auditors. According to the order, the auditors, during the deposition, promised to provide audit working papers, but eventually failed to do so.

The regulator said such sustained non-cooperation is itself indicative of an intent to suppress material information and obstruct regulatory inquiry.

SEBI further observed that among the aberrations prima facie noted in the matter, about 97-99% of REL’s revenue was inflated, are egregious and unheard of.

The order held that Mehta was the key decision-making authority within REL and exercised substantial control over the day-to-day affairs and financial operations of the company and its subsidiaries.

Therefore, the regulator restrained Mehta from buying, selling or dealing in securities of REL, either directly or indirectly, until further orders.

SEBI also directed REL and Mehta (noticees) to cooperate with the investigating authority and furnish all documents and explanations sought within 30 days.

It further ordered the appointment of a new forensic auditor to complete the audit of the company’s books after noting inadequate cooperation during the earlier forensic exercise.