Swamy seeks probe into fraud committed by Axis Bank through sale, purchase of shares in Max Life Insurance

BJP leader Subramanian Swamy moved the Delhi High Court seeking a probe into an alleged fraud committed by Axis Bank.

BJP leader Subramanian Swamy on Thursday moved the Delhi High Court seeking a probe into an alleged fraud committed by Axis Bank to make “undue profits” through sale and purchase of shares in Max Life Insurance.

The court listed the public interest litigation (PIL) petition for further hearing on March 13 after Axis Bank’s counsel said they had not been served a copy of the plea.

Dr. Swamy, a former BJP MP, sought a direction for constituting a committee of experts to investigate the matter, asserting that the “rot” in private sector banks should be brought to light.

The petition alleged that Axis Bank made undue profits totalling ₹4,000 crore from the sale and purchase of equity shares of Max Life in a non-transparent manner and in violation of the applicable regulations.

“Axis Bank sold its stake of 0.998% shares of Max Life in March 2021 to MFSL (Max Financial Services Ltd) & Mitsui Sumitomo International at ₹166 per share. Subsequently, in a very short span of time i.e., in March-April 2021 itself, Axis Bank Limited and its group entities acquired 12.002% shares from MFSL at a price range of ₹31.51 - 32.12 per share,” the petition said.

“12.002% of shareholding in Max Life is bought by the Axis Bank group companies at ₹31.51 / 32.12 per share at total consideration of ₹736 crore, which is evidently below the fair market value,” it said.

“On simple calculation, resulting in undue profits/gains from the purchase on the sale of equity shares of Max Life in non-transparent manner, Axis Bank has unlawfully gained approximately ₹4,000 crore,” the petition claimed.