Whistleblower seeks detailed inquiry on allegations

UNMESH GUJARATHI
Sprouts Brands Story

After a fairly long stint of 14 years as the Aditya Birla Capital CEO, Ajay Srinivasan who had till December 2021 been the blue-eyed boy of the Group Chairman, Kumar Mangalam Birla has been eased out of office.

It was reported that a whistleblower had approached the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) with complaints on alleged insider trading and corruption that shook the company’s financial health from within. Earlier, the whistleblower had penned a 16-page letter to the Group chairman, which evoked the clean-up action.

The whistleblower specifically alleged that there were several instances of corruption, insider trading and front running at the Aditya Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund.

The letter that was addressed first to the senior management of the Group escalated to a SEBI inquiry after the whistleblower sensed an apparent reluctance on part of the seniors to act against the alleged fraudsters.

Our Sprouts’ Special Investigation Team (SIT) learnt from executives who spoke on condition of anonymity that the scale of fund mismanagement could not have gone unnoticed for such a long period of time. “In fact, SEBI should have acted promptly after detecting a pattern that indicated an unusual quantum of losses,” he added.

As of now the company’s spokespersons are tight-lipped about the move and motive behind Srinivasan being shunted.