Rajesh Exports puzzle gets bigger
SEBI order, Canara Bank’s recovery efforts and LIC’s investment together put spotlight over the company
Controversial businessman Rajesh Mehta, who led Rajesh Exports and was caught recently by Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) for inflating the revenue of more than Rs 15 lakh crore, is already a large defaulter of Canara Bank with more than Rs 2,458 crore loan dues.
The Pioneer on March 16 reported that Rajesh Exports owes more than Rs 2,285 crores, citing Canara Bank’s January 2026 data of large defaulters filed to the rating agency TransUnion CIBIL.
As per a detailed analysis of the TransUnion CIBIL data filed by Canara Bank, Rajesh Exports owes a total of Rs 2,458 crores and the loan amount is split into six entries of Rs 409 each. Canara Bank is now conducting recovery suits at the Debt Recovery Tribunal (DRT) in Chennai and three Directors of the company are shows as personal guarantors to these loans. The directors shown as personal guarantors are Rajesh Mehta and his partners, Prashant Mehta and S Paramasivan.
Rajesh Exports has also filed a counter case in DRT against the bank, seeking loss of more than Rs 20,456 crore. However, DRT in 2023 dismissed the company’s claim, citing that they produced fake bills. The 2023 order observes that Rajesh Exports diverted funds from Canara Bank through its subsidiary gold refinery, Valcambi SA in Switzerland.
Interestingly, Canara Bank has neither approached the Central Bureau of Investigation nor the Enforcement Directorate (ED) with complaints against Rajesh Exports and its directors, though it filed a civil recovery case of Rs 452 crore in 2021. Why Canara Bank did not approached the CBI and the ED despite Rajesh Exports producing fake bills against the bank is a billion-dollar question.
The latest 109-page-long SEBI order indicates that Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) invested in 10.8 per cent shares of the tainted company. It is a well-known fact that the LIC will not invest in such companies without political patronage.
