Cobrapost

COBRAPOST INVESTIGATION | LOOTWALLAHS: QUESTIONS ABOUT CORPORATE GOVERNANCE IN INDIA – PART II Based on statutory filings and public disclosures, Cobrapost examines large-value cash transactions, related party arrangements, and disclosure gaps involving Cholamandalam Investment & Finance Company Ltd, the flagship NBFC of the Murugappa Group. Over nearly a decade, ₹10,000+ crore moved through related parties, alongside ~₹25,000 crore in cash deposits across multiple banks, raising serious questions on corporate governance and regulatory oversight. Read the full cover story below. COVER STORY :cobrapost.com/blog/cobrapost… PRESS RELEASE : cobrapost.com/blog/press-rel… YOUTUBE VIDEOS: youtu.be/x2aSnMf0ulg

Following India’s downing Pakistani AWACS in Operation Sindoor, Pakistan has begun talks with China to acquire the Shaanxi KJ-500. The system enables early detection of aircraft, missiles, and drones, and improves interceptor and air defence coordination. indiatoday.in/world/story/pa…

Comedian Kunal Kamra tells the Bombay High Court that the Sahyog Portal, notified via the 2025 amendment to IT Rules, has led to a situation where the average policeman is directing content removal based on what he personally finds unsuitable. thehindu.com/news/cities/mu…

Delhi High Court has issued notice on a plea filed by Cobrapost challenging a trial court order permitting businessman and Chairman of Reliance Group, Anil Ambani to withdraw his defamation case over allegedly defamatory reporting claiming that his companies committed a fraud of over Rs. 41,000 crores. livelaw.in/high-court/del…

The vast data centers that power artificial intelligence guzzle huge amounts of energy, They are creating “heat islands,” warming the land around them by up to 16 degrees Fahrenheit, and making life hotter for more than 340 million people. cnn.com/2026/03/30/cli…

BBC-verified footage shows a missile landing just feet from RT correspondent Steve Sweeney during a live report in southern Lebanon; he and his cameraman miraculously survived. The strike comes amid ongoing Israeli air operations, highlighting the dangers journalists face. bbc.com/news/videos/ce…

China remains heavily tied to Iranian crude, with millions of barrels still flowing to China despite the conflict. Beijing also built up large oil inventories before the crisis. That leaves China entering the disruption in a far stronger position than many importers. If the conflict triggers a prolonged oil shock, China could end up both the least exposed major buyer and a key external player in the global energy equation. nytimes.com/2026/03/10/bus…

A growing concern in the Iran conflict is the emerging asymmetry between offense and defense. Iran can deploy relatively inexpensive drones and missiles, while the United States and its partners rely on far costlier interceptor systems such as Patriot and THAAD to stop them. Even if defenses succeed tactically, the strategic implication is clear: prolonged conflict risks exhausting defensive stockpiles and shifting the balance toward attrition. vox.com/politics/48219…

As the war enters its 11th day, Iran accuses the United States and Israel of bombing nearly 10,000 civilian sites and killing over 1,300 civilians, underscoring the devastating toll the conflict is taking on ordinary people across the country. aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/…

Iran attacks breach international law, says Swiss Defence Minister. “The Federal Council is of the opinion that the attack on Iran constitutes a violation of international law.” Under the UN Charter, states must not use force without UN authorization or clear claim of self-defence. mybs.in/2g4Ztej

Iran war updates: Analyst Barbara Slavin says the rise of Mojtaba Khamenei as Iran’s new supreme leader makes the US–Israel war “even more senseless.” Killing Ayatollah Khamenei only brings his son, a hardliner who helped run the system for years and whose family was killed in the strike, to power. aje.news/64yl8m via @AJEnglish

US Cardinal Blase Cupich slams a White House video mixing Hollywood film clips with real US strikes on Iran as “horrifying” and “sickening.” He says war and the deaths of over 1,000 Iranians are being turned into entertainment, warning: “We lose our humanity when we are thrilled by the destructive power of our military.” cruxnow.com/church-in-the-…

U.S. submarine has sunk an Iranian warship off Sri Lanka. The vessel, IRINS Dena, had previously taken part in MILAN multilateral naval exercise hosted by India in the Bay of Bengal, where it was listed among the participating ships. reuters.com/world/asia-pac…

~₹25,00 Crore Cash Deposits, KYC Failures, Section 269T Non Disclosure, Understated GNPSs, AA+ Rating Questions And Audit Silence : What Cobrapost's CIFCL Investigation Says ! 1/ Income Tax + KYC compliances are NOT optional. Cobrapost’s investigation points to serious breaches at CIFCL across Tax audit reporting, RBI KYC rules, NPA classification, and audit disclosure. 2/ Section 269T violations: The Income Tax Act, 1961 mandates disclosure in tax audit reports of identity and PAN details when cash receipts exceed ₹20,000 in a financial year. ➤Cobrapost found CIFCL has systematically FAILED to Enable Authorities to assess identity documentation for thousands of individuals depositing CASH on its Behalf. Blatant Noncompliance is what this looks like ! ! 3/ RBI KYC Guidelines breach: The RBI Master Circular dated July 1, 2010 places SOLE responsibility on NBFCs to ensure full KYC compliance by authorized agents, brokers, and individuals making deposits on their behalf. ➤The Circular’s Rule 3 is unambiguous: the NBFC must “accept full consequences of ANY violation” by persons operating on its behalf. ➤CIFCL Failed to maintain proper documentation, calling it a wholesale violation of these RBI guidelines. 4/ Now To the Balance Sheet Pressure Point: ➤Understated Non-Performing Assets! ➤The 90-day Window: RBI regulations require loans to be classified as NPAs when payments are overdue by 90 days. ➤Cash collection delays: When borrowers MISS Regular EMI payments, cash collection through Agents creates Time lags that can breach the 90-day threshold. 5/Understated GNPA: Cobrapost states CIFCL’s reported Gross NPA figures likely UNDERSTATE the True Extent of Distressed Assets. ➤The Reliance on Cash Collections suggests Borrowers have already FAILED standard payment mechanisms ! ➤The LAG between Default and Cash Recovery ALLOWS CIFCL to manipulate NPA reporting, Presenting a Healthier Balance Sheet than Reality Warrants. ➤ Cobrapost FLAGS The Fallout: This Affects Investor Decisions, Regulatory Oversight & Systemic Risk Assessment. 6/ Then Comes the Credit Rating Agency Angle! ➤ The AA+ Rating Question ❓ Crisil Ratings Limited assigned CIFCL a rating of AA+, Suggesting Excellent Asset Quality and LOW Credit Risk. ➤Cobrapost states that this rating appears INCOMPATIBLE with the MASSIVE cash collection operations revealed in the investigation! We, At Cobrapost Raise This Plainly: Did Crisil factor in the inherent risks of large cash-based revenue❓ ➤Cash collections carry significant delinquency risks and indicate poor borrower quality, Factors that should substantially Impact credit ratings! 7/ Now the final Gatekeepers: The Role of Statutory Auditors ! ➤Cobrapost’s investigation reveals statutory auditors failed their fiduciary duty by not flagging massive cash deposit activities in audit reports. ➤Cobrapost underlines the scale: ~₹22,500 crore in cash deposits. A scale that “should have triggered immediate red flags.” ➤Audit Report Omissions: Despite Clear Requirements to Report unusual transactions and Potential Money Laundering risks, Auditors Systematically Omitted Any Mention of the ~₹22,500 crore in cash deposits. 8/ Cobrapost calls it out in the text: This represents either gross negligence or Deliberate Suppression of Material Information !!! ➤When Identity Documentation is Missing, KYC Responsibility is Explicit, NPAs Hinge on a 90-day rule, and Auditors say NOTHING about ₹22,500 crore in cash deposits…........... What exactly was being examined and what was Being IGNORED ? 9/ This is the CIFCL Story in Cobrapost’s own Findings: Tax Audit Disclosure Failures. RBI KYC guideline breaches. NPA reporting concerns. Credit rating questions. Audit silence. (5/x) #Cholakepichekyahai #Lootwallahs #Cobrapost #CIFCL #RBI #KYC #IncomeTax #NPA #GNPA #Audit #Crisil #CreditRating #Cholamandalam #Murugappa @MCA21India @FinMinIndia @RBI @IncomeTaxIndia

Cobrapost Investigation | Lootwallahs | Thread Below⬇️ Cobrapost Investigates How More Than Rs.~10,000 Crore has Moved Through a Web of Related parties, involving the flagship of the 125-year-old Muruugappa Group and other entities, mostly benefitting Murugappa Group entities, family members & Key Management Personnel, With Cash Deposits of Rs.~25,000 Crore Made Across More Than a Dozen Banks over The Past Six Years, Raising Sharp Questions On Corporate Governace and Regulatory Oversight ! The Core Entity Involved is Cholamandalam Investment & Finance Company Limited (CIFCL), the Group's Flagship NBFC. Follow The Full Thread ⬇️ Below ⬇️To See The Complete Picture and Understand The Real Story Behind This Group ! (1/x) #Cholakepichekyahai #Lootwallahs #CobrapostInvestigation #Cholamandalam #Murugappa #CholaFinance #RBI #SEBI #PublicInterest

Cash, Split & Repeated: The Banking Trail. Axis Bank tells a story in Cash. Cobrapost’s analysis Shows CIFCL deposited ~₹7,297 Crore using Three Different Cash Methods over Seven Years. ➤CMS led the way with Thousands of Entries, Peaking at ~₹929 Crore in 2019–20 across 971 transactions. ➤Direct branch deposits Followed, Peaking at ~₹1,539 Crore in 2019–20 Through 277 Transactions. ➤Then individual deposits, smaller amounts but Rising Steadily, involving up to 1,032 individuals Depositing Cash on CIFCL’s Behalf ! Figures presented in earlier table is for 2022-25 whereas the current analysis here is for 2019-26 (up to Oct 25. IndusInd Bank Shows a Different Pattern. Only CMS Deposits ! ➤~₹200 Crore between 2019–20 and 2024–25. ➤9,834 separate entries. ➤Average ₹2.04 lakh per transaction. ➤Suspicious Pattern is The Peak Activity in 2020–21: ~₹58 crore Deposited Through 1,998 Separate Transactions, Averaging one Transaction Every Four Hours !! Cash Collections. Field Agents. Repeated Deposits. ➤Standard Lending Runs on ECS. Cash Appears When Borrowers Default ! The Scale of Cash Raises Questions Over The Quality of Advances and Credit Risk ! (4/x) #Cholakepichekyahai #Murugappa #Cholamandalam #Cobrapost #Lootwallahs2 #CIFCL #CashTrail #AxisBank #IndusIndBank #NBFC #FinancialInvestigation #RBI

CIFCL's ~₹25,090 Crore Cash Trail. 14 Banks. ➤Cobrapost uncovers Massive Cash Deposits By Cholamandalam Investment & Finance Company Limited between 2019–2025, Forming a Substantial Part of its Revenue. ➤Alongside this, ₹10,262 Crore was Diverted Through Undisclosed Transactions To Related Parties and Family Members, Violating Companies Act 2013, SEBI LODR norms and Ind AS 24. ➤ICICI Bank Alone Saw ~₹13,361 crore in Cash. SBI ~₹4,607 crore. Karur Vysya Bank ~₹2,846 crore. Total Cash Trail: ~₹25,029 Crore! Field collections. Cash deposits. Time lags. Asset Classification Delays. A Loan Book Serviced in Cash. A Red Flag Waving In Plain Sight. (3/x) #Cholakepichekyahai #Cobrapost #Lootwallahs2 #CIFCL #Murugappa #Cholamandalam #CholaFinance #MurugappaGroup #RBI #Sebi

CIFCL: The Debt-Fuelled Growth Engine! Founded in 1972, Cholamandalam Investment & Finance Company Ltd, the Murugappa Group’s flagship NBFC, has grown into its primary growth engine. Chaired by fourth-generation member Vellayan Subbiah, with Ravindra Kumar Kundu as Managing Director, CIFCL spans vehicle finance, home loans, SME finance, investment advisory and stock broking. But The Numbers Tell A Sharper Story ! ➤As of June 2025, Murugappa Family Holds 49.90% Promoter Stake. ➤CIFCL's Borrowings Have Surged From ~₹50,567 crore in 2019 to ~₹1,74,946 crore in 2025, a 3.5x jump in Six years. Total liabilities stand at ~₹2,01,647 crore as of March 31, 2025. Net worth is ~₹23,627 crore, while market capitalisation is around ~₹1,24,000 crore. ➤The ~₹1.75 Lakh Crore Borrowings Stack up as Follows: ~₹76,466 crore from Bank Term Loans, ~₹44,976 Crore from Financial Institutions, ~₹30,134 crore via Debentures & ~₹12,349 crore from External Commercial Borrowings. (2/x) #Cholakepichekyahai  #Cobrapost #CIFCL #MurugappaGroup #Lootwallahs2 #NBFC #DebtMountain #FinancialInvestigation #Cholamandalam #RBI

~₹10,000 Crore Taken. Dividends Given. Shareholders Left Behind ! We Flag The Investor Hit Upfront: While Promoters Took ~₹648 Crore in Dividends (2017–2025), We Found That Promoters & KMP Were Enriched By ~₹10,000 crore, While Common Shareholders Got Only Dividends at Par with Promoters And NO Share in ~₹10,000 Crore Related-Party Transactions ! ⮕ Here is The Brutal Mismatch We Point To, The Same Company Money Pool, But TWO Outcomes : 💰Promoters & KMP Get Enriched 💰 👎Common Shareholders Get only TheDividend Line!👎 We Pulled this into Sharp Focus by Analysing Dividend Patterns Across Listed Murugappa Companies: CIFCL, EID Parry, Coromandel International, Tube Investments, Carborundum Universal, Wendt India, Shanthi Gears. ⮕ So Yes, Dividends Went out ! ⮕ BUT The common shareholders have Only Received the Dividend at Par with Promoters while they did NOT have ANY Share in the ~Rs 10,000 Crores related party transactions Unearthed By Cobrapost. ▪️We Make The Consequence Explicit▪️ Had ~Rs 10,000 Crores Related Part Transactions Been Preserved Inside the Companies, Shareholders Would Have Been Equally Enriched !💰 ⮕It Quantifies the “ LOST UPSIDE ” in Black & White: With 50% Share of Common Shareholders, They Would Have Been Valued By ~₹5,000 Crore more ! ⮕This is NOT Just an investor issue! The implications Spread to Minority Shareholders, Lenders, Institutional Investors & the Public Interest. Regulatory & Enforcement Authorities Must Protect Minority Shareholders, Lenders, Retail Investors, Depositors, and the Integrity of the Broader Financial System. #Cholakepichekyahai #Lootwallahs #CobrapostInvestigation #Cholamandalam #Murugappa #ShareholderRights #CholaFinance @FinMinIndia @RBI @MCA21India COVER STORY : cobrapost.com/blog/cobrapost… PRESS RELEASE : cobrapost.com/blog/press-rel…

CIFCL’s Ratings, Rising Debt And The Payment Patterns To Rating Agencies And Auditing Firms ! CIFCL’s Debt-to-Equity Went Up from 5.90 (2022) To 7.40 (2025), yet CRISIL still Rated it A1+ (Short Term) & AA+/Stable (Long Term). So We Question: Higher Debt to Equity Ratio Means CIFCL is using more Debt Financing for its business to grow, Which in Turn means there is a higher business risk. So With Leverage Rising this Sharply, How Were These Ratings Assessed? ➡️Cobrapost Found That CIFCL Paid ~₹79 Crore in “Professional Fees” to 4 Rating Agencies & ~₹23 Crore to Audit firms. We Observed Wild Fee swings, sister-concern of agencies payouts, and even 'RENT' paid to a Rating Agency! ➡️CIFCL Reportedly Paid Rent to ICRA : ~₹69 Lakh in 2019–20 & ~₹69 Lakh in 2020-21, Alongside Rating Fees! Apart from the 'Rent' Paid to the agency in 2020-21, CIFCL has reportedly paid ICRA Ltd. Twice ~₹2 crore & ~₹15 lakh – in Rating Fee that Year. We Point to the ICAI code of conduct: It Restricts Accounting firms OR Their Associates From Accepting Fees other than Audit Fee, An Issue Raised in the Context of the Payments Recorded. ➡️ICAI penalises SR Batliboi & Associates, YET Payments Continue Post-Resignation while sister EY Firms earn ~₹7.84 Crore during Audit Years. ▪️ Conflict of Interest ? ▪️ SR Batliboi & Associates, penalized by ICAI along with two sister firms for 'Professional Misconduct' in April 2025, Resigned as statutory Auditor in 2021, YET CIFCL continued paying the firm ! ➡️In the same year, SR Batliboi & Associates LLP was Independent Auditor of Cholamandalam Financial Holdings Ltd. Meanwhile, Sister concerns Ernst & Young LLP and Ernst & Young Associates LLP RECEIVED ~₹8 crore from FY 2017–18 to 2024–25, INCLUDING Periods when Attest Functions were being Discharged. Conflict of interest? ? We ask ! ➡️Deloitte Audits CIFCL across years, from 2007 private placement to fresh appointment, as parent & sister concerns work in different capacities. ▪️Potential conflict of interest? ▪️ Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India LLP Audited CIFCL in 2017–18 and is again statutory auditor in the last fiscal year. Its Earlier six-year tenure ended in 2016, & Deloitte was also auditor in 2007 when CIFCL’s JV Cholamandalam DBS Finance Ltd raised ~₹199 crore via private placement. With Deloitte Haskins & Sells LLP, a statutory auditor meant to ensure a true and fair view, and both parent and sister concerns working for CIFCL in different capacities, a potential conflict of interest arises ! COVER STORY :cobrapost.com/blog/cobrapost… PRESS RELEASE : cobrapost.com/blog/press-rel… #RatingAgencies #Conflictofinterest #Cholakepichekyahai #Lootwallahs #Cobrapost #MurugappaGroup #Murugappa