The company had failed to pay penalties in a case of illegal embezzlement. SEBI issued the notice after Reliance Big Entertainment failed to pay the fine of Rs 25 crore imposed by the regulator in August this year.

Mumbai: The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has fined Reliance Big Entertainment Rs 26 crore for failing to clear sanctions imposed by the capital markets regulator.

The company had failed to pay penalties in a case of illegal embezzlement. SEBI issued the notice after Reliance Big Entertainment failed to pay the fine of Rs 25 crore imposed by the regulator in August this year.

SEBI ordered the entity to pay Rs 26 crore, including interest and recovery charges within 15 days. If Reliance Big Entertainment fails to make payment within the stipulated time, the regulator may seize its assets, including its bank accounts.

In August this year, the markets regulator banned industrialist Anil Ambani and 24 other entities for five years for misappropriation of funds from Reliance Home Finance Ltd (RHFL).

SEBI also fined Ambani Rs 25 crore and banned him from holding any position in the securities market, including roles as directors or key management personnel in listed companies, for the same duration .

In a 222-page order, SEBI said Anil Ambani, with the help of top management of RHFL, orchestrated a fraudulent scheme to siphon off funds from RHFL by disguising them as loans to entities linked to him.

“RHFL’s board of directors issued strict guidelines to stop such lending practices and regularly reviewed business loans, but company management ignored these orders. This suggests a significant failure of governance, driven by some key executives under the influence of Anil Ambani,” he said.

The other 24 banned entities include Amit Bapna, Ravindra Sudhalkar and Pinkesh R. Shah, former key RHFL officials. The regulator imposed a fine of Rs 27 crore on Bapna, Rs 26 crore on Sudhalkar and Rs 21 crore on Shah.

The remaining entities – Reliance Unicorn Enterprises, Reliance Exchangenext Lt, Reliance Commercial Finance Ltd, Reliance Cleangen Ltd, Reliance Business Broadcast News Holdings Ltd and Reliance Big Entertainment Private Ltd – were assessed a penalty of Rs 25 crore each.