Manpasand Beverages sell-off continues, hits record low

Mumbai, May 30: Days after the top deck of Gujarat-based Manpasand Beverages, including the company's Managing Director, were arrested on allegations of GST fraud, its scrips on the BSE hit an all-time low on Thursday.

Since May 24, Manpasand scrips have lost over half of its value. On Thursday, the scrips hit Rs 57.10 a share, declining by Rs 6.30 or 9.94 per cent.

According to a BSE filing by the company, the Commissioner of Central GST and Customs carried out search and seizure proceedings at various premises of the company on May 23 and further inquiry was conducted on May 24 at the GST Bhavan office here.

"Abhishek Singh, Whole Time Director, Paresh Thakkar, Chief Financial Officer of the company and (Singh's brother) Harshvardhan Singh are under judicial custody... The company is contesting these allegations in accordance with the due process of law," the company said in the filing.

"Considering the present status of the case, estimated impact on the company and amount involved is not identifiable till the outcome in the matter."

A CGST statement, released on May 24, stated that searches were conducted on various premises of the company, following which a racket of creating fake/dummy units for availing fraudulent credit and committing tax evasion of Rs 40 crore involving turnover of some Rs 300 crore had surfaced.

The investigations revealed a nationwide network of 30 dummy companies that were used by Manpasand Beverages for claiming illegal credit. The agencies were still ascertaining the exact beneficiaries of such dubious deals.

This is not the first occasion when operations at Manpasand Beverages have raised questions over its operations.

In May 2018, the exit of auditors - Deloitte Haskins & Sells India - midway through an audit process raised suspicion about the opaque functioning of the organisation.

Reportedly, the auditors left due to lack of transparency and their exit resulted in a crash of the company's shares on bourses.

The company's Board of Directors were scheduled to meet on May 28 to consider and approve its Audited Financial Results but this was cancelled.

The company on Wednesday informed that "Chirag Doshi, Independent Director of the Company, has tendered his resignation from the post of Director with immediate effect. This resignation is mainly due to the press release issued by GST department".