Cobrapost Investigation Lootwallahs: Questions About Corporate Governance In India

A Cobrapost investigation, based on a detailed examination of statutory filings and corporate and financial disclosures, has identified transactions aggregating upwards of Rs. 10,000 crore involving Cholamandalam Investment & Finance Company Ltd. and a network of related Murugappa Group entities, family members, and key management personnel (KMP). Our investigation further indicates that portions of these funds were routed onward through additional transactions, the nature and purpose of which merit closer regulatory scrutiny.

The investigation has also found CIFCL to have made cash deposits of more than Rs. 25,000 crore across 14 banks over the past six years. Of these, eight are private entities and the rest are public sector banks. These figures are approximations and may vary if examined by a competent statutory authority.

The principal recipient entities identified in this analysis include Cholamandalam MS General Insurance Co. Ltd. (CMGICL), Chola Business Services Ltd. (CBSL), and Murugappa Management Services, apart from CIFCL. A non-banking finance company (NBFC ), CIFCL has diverted sums worth around Rs. 6419 crore. This amount includes Rs. 4103 crore that CBSL, a privately held Murugappa Group entity, has received from CIFCL since 2015. Similarly, CMGICL has made payments amounting to around Rs. 3040 crore to nine Murugappa Group entities, including CBSL, since 2017.  

In addition to payments made to group entities and KMP, our analysis has identified some credit rating agencies, auditing firms, non-profit organisations such as Isha Foundation, sports bodies, and trade associations have also received funds from CIFCL and other Murugappa Group companies. Based on filings and related records reviewed by Cobrapost, these entities together received approximately Rs. 120 crore during the period under examination.

The analysis further shows that Murugappa Management Services, another privately held promoter group company, has been used as special purpose vehicle for the diversion of funds to the tune of Rs. 675 crore. The diversion involved a two-step process. In the first step, Rs. 675 crore was extracted from 17 group companies – both listed and unlisted – between 2017–18 and 2014–25. Of this amount, around Rs. 103 crore originated from CIFCL. In the second step, Murugappa Management Services made huge payouts to dozens of individuals, a slew of entities including related companies, rating agencies, sports bodies like BCCI, among others.

Based on the analysis of records, payments made by Murugappa Management Services to family members and senior executives together amount to about Rs. 353 crore during the period under review. One of the recipients identified is Ravichandran Venkatachalam (Ravichandran V), a member of the Murugappa family and head of Coromandel International Ltd., who received payments exceeding Rs. 55 crore over a period of three years.

Cobrapost has identified several other family members who received payments running into several crores of rupees, recorded as salary, professional fees, or a combination of both. One such beneficiary is Arunachalam MAM who received more than Rs. 20.72 crore in salary between 2017-18 and 2022-23 and a profession fee of Rs. 2.50 crore in 2024-25.  

Among senior management personnel, Ramesh K.B. Menon, the Group’s human resources head, received around Rs. 54 crore in salary between 2017–18 and 2021–22.

The related party transactions (RPTs) identified by Cobrapost aggregate to around Rs. 10,000 crore. Barring a few exceptions, these transactions have been recorded as payments against work contracts, professional fee, and commission. These transactions come out as instances of creative accounting.  

Although all these transactions aggregate to more than Rs. 10,000 crore across CIFCL, CBSL, Murugappa Management Services and other entities identified in this report, disclosures of RPTs of only about Rs. 2161 crore have been made.

These transactions have been effected in violation of the Companies Act, 2013, Insurance and Regulatory Authority of India (IRDAI) guidelines, Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements (LODR) Regulations of the Security and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), and Indian Accounting Standards set by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI)           

The main findings, based on statutory filings and related disclosures analyzed by Cobrapost, can be summed up as follows:

CIFCL has made cash deposits of around Rs. 25,000 crore across 14 banks between 2020-21 and 2024-25. These figures are approximations derived from disclosed data and may vary substantially on the upper side upon examination by a competent authority.    
The NBFC also operates in insurance and has reportedly earned a commission of Rs. 942 crore between 2024 and 2025. Its revenue from commission earned has increased by leaps and bounds. Since a substantial part of CIFCL’s revenues comes from financing vehicles and homes, the question arises whether the company is indulging in bundling insurance with vehicle loans, a practice prohibited by regulatory agencies like IRDAI.        
One of the three insurance companies CIFCL works for is Cholamandalam MS General Insurance (CMGICL), a related company. As mentioned, CMGICL has diverted funds worth Rs. 3040 crore to nine Murugappa Group companies.

An examination of CMGICL’s disclosures shows that these transactions were recorded under heads such as insurance commission, work contracts, and professional fees. The structure, classification, and disclosure of these transactions form a central part of the governance and compliance issues analysed in this report.
Based on the records examined, transactions aggregating approximately Rs. 1578 crore were reported with several Murugappa Group entities, including around Rs. 1036 crore recorded as professional fees paid to nine related companies.

The concentration of these transactions raise questions regarding their impact on stakeholders, including minority shareholders and joint venture partners, an issue discussed in detail in this report.
Filings reviewed by Cobrapost indicate that CMGICL disclosed related party transactions amounting to only Rs. 116 crore, while additional transactions identified in this analysis do not appear to have been reflected as RPT disclosures in the filings examined.

Cobrapost’s review of CIFCL’s available disclosures similarly indicates that several transactions identified in this analysis do not appear to have been reported as related-party transactions (RPTs).

Filings reviewed indicate that CIFCL reported payments aggregating more than Rs. 1654 crore in the form of work contracts with over a dozen Murugappa Group entities. These transactions do not appear to have been reflected as RPTs in the company’s filings for the relevant periods.
           

The recipient entities identified in the records include:

• EID Parry India Ltd.
• Parry Enterprises India Ltd.
• Murugappa Management Services Pvt. Ltd.
• Coromandel Engineering Co. Ltd.
• Cholamandalam Distribution Services
• Cholamandalam Home Finance Ltd.
• Cholamandalam Securities Ltd.
• Cholamandalam MS Risk Services Ltd.
• Cholamandalam MS General Insurance Co. Ltd.
• Net Access India Ltd.
• Chola Business Services Ltd.

Chola Business Services Ltd., a privately held Murugappa Group entity, is reflected as the principal recipient of work-contract payments recorded by CIFCL. Of the work-contract transactions aggregating approximately Rs. 1654 crore identified in this analysis, payments amounting to about Rs. 1628 crore were recorded in favour of CBSL.

The review further indicates that CIFCL recorded payments totalling approximately Rs. 642 crore to five Murugappa Group companies in professional fee. In addition, filings examined by Cobrapost reflect payments aggregating about Rs. 19 crore to 12 senior Murugappa family members, recorded as professional fees and salary. Taken together, these payments amount to around Rs. 662 crore.

CBSL recorded receipts of about Rs. 4103 crore from CIFCL over multiple years. These payments are reflected in the records as consideration for staffing and related services, including transactions dating back to periods prior to 2015. Following the receipt of these amounts, CBSL recorded payments to other entities and individuals through subsequent transactions.

CBSL claimed additional deductions aggregating approximately Rs. 180 crore under Section 80JJAA of the Income Tax Act in connection with the manpower deployed at CIFCL.
CIFCL has reported related party transactions amounting to approximately Rs. 2045 crore in its filings for the relevant periods.

The records reviewed further reflect payments made by CBSL to certain entities and individuals, including Mysore Club, Murugappa Management Services, and Venkatachalam A, following the receipt of funds from CIFCL.

Venkatachalam A received salary payments totalling around Rs. 16 crore between 2023–24 and 2024–25..
Murugappa Management Services, a promoter-controlled Murugappa Group company, received transactions aggregating to around Rs. 675 crore from 17 group companies over the period of eight year between 2017–18 and 2024–25. Of this, sums of about Rs. 103 crore came from CIFCL.

Following the receipt of these amounts, Murugappa Management Services recorded payments to various entities and individuals through subsequent transactions:

Murugappa Management Services paid an estimated Rs. 365 crore to dozens of individuals, a slew of entities including related companies, rating agencies, insurance companies, sports bodies like BCCI, among others.

Out of the Rs. 365 crore, the Murugappa family members and their close associates have together received more than Rs. 353 crore. these payments are spread of a period of eight years. The top beneficiaries, among a dozen prominent family members, who have benefitted out of these diversions, are:

Ravichandran V, who received more than Rs. 55 crore.
MM Venkatachalam, who received more than Rs. 44 crore.   
MM Murugappan, who received about Rs. 42.53 crore.
Murugappa Vellayan Subbiah, who received Rs. 34.84 crore.
Murugappan Arunachalam Alagappan, who received Rs. 35.47 crore.

Ramesh KB Menon and Srinivasan N, two of the eight Murugappa Group top management officials identified, have also received Rs. 54 crore and Rs. 21 crore, respectively.

In addition, Murugappa Management Services has paid sums worth Rs. 5.70 crore to four of the dozens of Muruguppa Group companies, including Ambadi Investments Ltd., the Murugappa family’s holding company.
There doesn’t seem to have been required regulatory compliance with regard to these RPTs.

Except partial disclosures by CMGICL and CIFCL, there has been no adequate disclosure with regard to all the RPTs examined by Cobrapost. Companies have to comply with RPT disclosure requirements mandated by the 2013 Companies Act, SEBI’s LODR Regulations, and the Indian Accounting Standards.

CIFCL has paid some prominent credit rating agencies and auditing firms more than Rs. 103 crore in professional fee which varies wildly and is arguably quite excessive. There is some element of conflict of interest in these transactions. For instance, noted rating agency CRISIL Ltd. received a compensation of around Rs. 18 crore over a decade since 2016–17. Its sister concern Crisil Ratings Limited & Crisil Risk Infrastructure Solution Limited also received sums as high as Rs. 5 crore in a single year. It may be recalled that the rating agency gave CIFCL a rating of A1+ for short term and AA+/Stable rating for long term despite a shooting debt to equity ratio. There may not be an element of coincidence here.

CIFCL has paid more than  Rs. 20 crore to 21 non-profit trade bodies and religious organizations in what was part of diverted funds. Isha Foundation and Isha Leadership Academy, for instance, have together received around Rs. 1.99 crore from CIFCL. Curiously, these payments have been made in work contracts. Though these payments look like donations in nature, the company has shown them as expenses to perhaps circumvent CSR guidelines.

Cobrapost has also sample catalogued 38 borrower entities which have paid CIFCL interest between 2015–16 and 2024–25 against the loans. However, only a few of them have filed charge registers declaring their outstanding debts which makes the NBFC’s lending practices questionable.  

Our analysis further suggests that after receiving funds from CIFCL, CBSL made payments to Venkatachalam A as already mentioned. A member of the promoter group, Venkatachalam A was paid around Rs. 16 crore in salary by CBSL between 2023 and 2025. However, Venkatachalam A also received compensation amounting to about Rs. 18 crore from Murugappa Management Services.

It will be in order to mention here that the entire business line of CIFCL sustains on monies borrowed from banks, financial institutions, and general public. According to the information available in public domain, the total outstanding loan – euphemistically called assets under management (AUM) – is anything between Rs. 1,99,867 crore and Rs. 2,07,875 crore. To be precise, CIFCL’s outstanding liabilities stood at Rs. 2,01,647 crore as on March 31, 2025. The borrowings by CIFCL have in recent years risen exponentially. From Rs. 50,567 crore in 2019, the borrowings have increased more than threefold to Rs. 1,74,946 crore.  

According to the annual report filed by CIFCL for the 2024–25 fiscal year, its liabilities include Rs. 1,74,946 crore in borrowings and Rs. 3074 crore in other liabilities, an amount so enormous that it cannot be wished away by any yardstick when we consider its worth. The net worth of CIFCL is estimated at Rs. 8171.84 crore, way below its total exposure in terms of outstanding liabilities. Even if measured on the basis of the current market capitalization, it’s worth estimated at around Rs. 1,24,000 crore falls short of its liabilities by a mile.

In view of the lack of fiscal prudence and such delinquencies as identified by Cobrapost in the story, one may wonder if both their money and trust are in safe hands.   

The scale of the transactions and disclosure practices identified also raise serious questions regarding their potential fiscal and governance implications, including the manner in which revenues, expenditures, and related-party payments are classified and reported under applicable tax and regulatory frameworks. The issues identified raise significant questions concerning corporate governance, transparency, and stakeholder accountability—particularly for listed entities operating in regulated sectors and managing large volumes of public and institutional capital.

In compliance with best journalistic practices, Cobrapost has sent questionnaires to the Managing Director of CIFCL and individuals who have benefited from these transactions.

In compliance with best journalistic practices, Cobrapost has sent questionnaires to relevant companies and individuals, and we received the following response from the Chola Secretariat which is reproduced verbatim as follows:

We are in receipt of your email dated 22nd December 2025 (claiming to publish report/have press conference within 24 hours) sent to multiple email ids of the employees/companies in the Group seeking several information/clarifications on the individual employees/ business operations of the entities that are duly audited and submitted with the relevant regulatory bodies.

 We confirm that all transactions of the businesses are carried out as per the laws of land in due compliance with the applicable regulatory guidelines. The individuals/businesses will respond to appropriate authorities whenever required.

 Any further emails/publication/press meet on the above with an inherent criminal intention to blackmail or tarnish the image of our businesses/group/family members, will face the full force of the law at your own costs and consequences.

Authorised signatory

The above email had no signatures of the authorised signatory or his/her name. The response carries no answers to any of our multiple questions regarding the findings of our investigation. Cobrapost denies that any criminal intention to blackmail or tarnish the image of the Murugappa Group or their family members. Cobrapost also denounces this blatant attempt to intimidate journalists and media.