Edelweiss to join Nitin Desai’s death probe

livemint.com:

RBI)," it said. Desai, who would have been 58 on 9 August, took his life on 2 August in his studio. According to the HT news report, he had left 11 audio clippings in a voice recorder that the Raigad police have sent for forensics analysis.

On Sunday Edelweiss said Desai, the promoter of ND’s Art World Pvt Ltd (NDAWPL), had taken loans of Rs150 crore and Rs35 crore in 2016 and 2018, respectively, from ECL Finance Ltd, an NBFC, promoted by the Edelweiss Group. The loans were primarily for financing the theme park and for repaying existing debt, besides general corporate purposes and working capital needs. “We emphasize that NDAWPL was disbursed financial assistance at prevailing market rates.

It had encountered financial difficulties in 2019 and defaulted. Various attempts to improve the financial condition of the company did not bear fruit," it said. According to the statement, the loans were then assigned to CFM Asset Reconstruction Company Pvt.

Ltd. (CFM) which had initiated various legal actions. Edelweiss ARC (EARC) acquired a portfolio of assets from CFM under an auction process which included NDAWPL and said it “merely continued with legal actions that were initiated earlier".

“The company was eventually admitted under IBC by NCLT Mumbai on 25 July. Desai’s appeal against the NCLT order was dismissed by the honourable appellate tribunal (NCLAT) on 1 August, and he took his life the following morning," it said. Reiterating an earlier statement, Edelweiss said that ECLFL and EARC have acted fully in accordance with the letter and spirit of law and the regulatory framework established by the RBI which prescribes that pursuing recoveries on NPA accounts is not just a right of creditor but also an obligation.