Former CG Power Chairman Gautam Thapar takes legal action against board

Gautam Thapar, the former Chairman of CG Power and Industrial Solutions has sent a legal notice to the company board over his removal, calling it illegal. Thapar was accused by the board of siphoning funds from the company after a multi-crore scam was unearthed last month. The company said it will respond to the notice after consulting with its legal team.

According to a report in The Economic Times, there is a possibility of a probe by the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO), the investigating arm of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs. The daily also mentioned that both Thapar and the board haven't commented on the development.

Gautam Thapar was fired on August 29 after whistleblowers informed board members that some transactions were not allegedly covered in the company's audited accounts. VG Venkatesh, the company's Chief Financial Officer was also sacked. There were lookout circulars (LoC) issued against Thapar and Venkatesh by the MEA on the request of the corporate affairs ministry.

Venkatesh, a Belgian passport holder was prevented from leaving the country in the early hours of September 7, according to the daily.

The details of all the transactions that allegedly involved shell companies were submitted to the corporate affairs ministry by the board. The files have been passed on to the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

In the wake of the scam, CG Power's financial damage is estimated to be in excess of Rs 3,000 crore.

Gautam Thapar is represented by law firm Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co and Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas represents CG Power.

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Also read: Fraud-hit CG Power sacks CFO Venkatesh over misconduct and breach of trust