A businessman who allegedly scammed investors by routing their money through a complex web of transactions and buying luxury cars, including a Bentley Bentayga that he claimed cost Rs 9 crore, has been arrested by the Delhi Police.
Satya Prakash Bagla, the owner of Exclusive Capital (ECL), a Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC), was arrested by the Economic Offences Wing of the Delhi Police on Friday. He was produced before a court in the city on Saturday, which sent him to police custody for three days.
The case stemmed from a complaint filed by a senior citizen couple who alleged that Bagla misled them into investing in ECL. They later found themselves in the midst of a multi-crore fraud as Bagla and his accomplices siphoned off their money and that of other investors through the purchase of luxury cars and giving shady loans to their own connected entities.
Granting the police his custody, the court said, "Accused Satya Prakash Bagla has deliberately concealed material facts, evaded full disclosure during enquiry/investigation and has not cooperated with the investigation."
It noted that Bagla needed to be taken to Mumbai so that investigators could get more details on the functioning of ECL and other companies run by him, including M/s Luxus Retail Pvt Ltd, and to find out who the end user of the Bentley Bentayga was.
Ex-Judge's Report
In April 2025, a report by former Delhi High Court judge RK Gauba, appointed as an Observer by the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT), had revealed massive financial irregularities by ECL, including several questionable luxury car deals.
It had noted that the company had spent Rs 9.09 crore on purchasing the second-hand Bentley Bentayga from Luxus Retail, which is also controlled by Bagla and another ECL director, Achal Jindal.
The car's written-down value was just Rs 6.53 crore, meaning ECL overpaid by roughly Rs 2 crore.
Also, no insurance documents were available to verify ECL's control over the vehicle, and zero maintenance expenses were recorded, leading Justice Gauba to question if the Bentley even existed in the company's garage.
The deal was also "settled" against a Rs 9 crore advance to Luxus, earning no interest, which indicated a financial fraud.
ECL's assets list also included two other luxury vehicles - a Bentley Mulsanne (valued at Rs 9 crore) and a BMW X5 (Rs 1.11 crore).
The report found that only the Mulsanne's invoice was provided and there were no insurance or maintenance records for any of the vehicles.
Justice Gauba had demanded a physical inspection to confirm whether these cars even existed or were mere paper assets, hinting at potential misrepresentation.
from NDTV News- Special https://ift.tt/YKjxAsJ
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