Sebi attaches accounts of former Ranbaxy director, wife

Mumbai: Sebi has directed attachment of bank and demat securities accounts of Ranbaxy's former director as well as his wife to recover dues worth Rs 77.83 lakh from them in a matter related to insider trading in the shares of Orchid Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals Ltd. The capital market regulator has to recover Rs 64.85 lakh from Ranbaxy's former independent director V K Kaul and Rs 12.97 lakh from his wife Bala Kaul.

The dues include penalties of Rs 50 lakh and Rs 10 lakh imposed by Sebi on Kaul and his wife in January 2012. In attachment orders dated June 25, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has asked banks to attach all accounts including lockers held by the couple. Sebi has also directed depositories - NSDL and CDSL - to attach all the demat accounts of the two defaulters.

Sebi told the banks and the depositories that there was "sufficient reason" to believe that defaulters may dispose of the amounts in the accounts and "realisation of amount due under the certificate would in consequence be delayed or obstructed". The regulator has ordered banks and depositories to attach "all accounts by whatever name called of the defaulter, either singly or jointly with any other persons".

Sebi has also asked banks to attach the lockers held by the entities as well as "all other amount/proceeds due or may become due to the defaulters or any other money held or may subsequently hold for or on account of defaulter". It has further ordered the banks and the depositories that no debit would be made in these accounts until further directions. However, the credits, if any, into the account would be allowed.

The watchdog has also asked for various details of the accounts held by the entities including account statements. The scrip of Orchid Chemicals saw a huge fall in the last half of March 2008, but then recovered significantly. Several alerts were generated at the NSE and BSE and the scrip was taken up for joint investigation by the exchanges on the basis of which a report was submitted by them in April that year.

ala Kaul had bought several shares of the company on March 27-28, 2008, just prior to the start of share buying by Solrex, a Ranbaxy holding company, on March 31, 2008. It was found that V K Kaul being a connected person of Ranbaxy Laboratories had traded on behalf of his wife in the Orchid Chemical's scrip based on unpublished price sensitive information.