Investigators say that when they counted the gold at premises linked to Rajesh Exports, about 40 percent was missing from what the company’s books showed. “Physical verification carried out during the searches has shown that the gold stock found was around 40% lower than the stock reflected in the books,” an official told Mint.
The Enforcement Directorate searched nine locations on Tuesday, June 23, in Bengaluru and Mumbai, according to Mint. The raids come less than a month after the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) issued a 109-page ex-parte interim order against the Bengaluru jewellery and gold group, which is led by chairman Rajesh Mehta. Officials have not confirmed which legal provisions the searches fall under. Moneycontrol reported they began early in the morning.
What SEBI alleged
SEBI’s order, dated June 3, accused the company of misstating its financial statements by about ₹15.15 lakh crore over the five financial years from FY21 to FY25 by repeatedly recording circular transactions. The regulator was careful to say the figure is the cumulative value of allegedly misstated entries, not money that changed hands. The same transactions, it said, were routed through multiple entities again and again, inflating revenue and purchases.
The order also looked at Mehta’s personal account. Between April 2020 and September 2025, SEBI found, the company sent ₹338.90 crore to that account and got ₹232.44 crore back. It said the company produced no loan agreements, board approvals or other papers to justify the routing. Pending a full investigation, SEBI put interim restrictions on the company, its promoters and some associated entities.
What the ED is looking at
Officials quoted by Mint described several lines of inquiry.
One is share trading through benami holders. “Preliminary findings indicate that over $20 million may have been siphoned out of the country through such transactions,” an unnamed ED official said. The report put that at ₹189 crore.
Another is about ₹3,000 crore in trade receivables that was set against gold imports, where officials suspect some shipments never arrived. Transactions of nearly the same size were adjusted against four to five UAE-based firms, whose credentials are being checked.
A third is the company’s apparent investment of more than ₹1,000 crore in African gold mines. An official said the money does not appear in the books of any subsidiary.
Mint also reported that the Ministry of Heavy Industries is expected to decide soon on the company’s role in the ₹18,100-crore PLI-ACC battery scheme, in which Rajesh Exports was selected to develop 5 gigawatt-hours of capacity.
Emails to Rajesh Exports and the ED went unanswered, according to the report.
On Tuesday the shares hit the 5 percent upper circuit and closed at ₹108.25 on the BSE. That is a sharp bounce from the 52-week low of ₹73.20 set after SEBI acted, though the stock is still down 54 percent over six months. The ED is expected to go through the documents, digital records and financial data it seized before deciding what comes next.
Sources
- ED Raids Rajesh Exports in Bengaluru Days after Sebi's ₹15.15 Lakh Cr Fraud Findings – Outlook Business
- After SEBI Probe, ED Raids 9 Sites Linked to Rajesh Exports: 40% Gold Stock Missing From Records, ₹3,000 Crore Deals Under Scanner
