CG Power’s former CFO stopped from leaving the country

Mumbai, Sep 7 (IANS) Central agencies stopped CG Power's former Chief Financial Officer V.R. Venkatesh from boarding an international flight at the Mumbai Airport. The incident took place on Friday night, as Venkatesh, who was recently sacked by the company on allegations of misconduct, tried to leave the country.

According to sources, Venkatesh's detention was based on a lookout notice against his name. Last month, the company's board had terminated Venkatesh's employment as the Chief Financial Officer with immediate effect.

"The termination of the employment of Venkatesh is due to the grave nature of misconduct and breach of trust on his part and having knowingly undertaken actions which were detrimental to the interests of the company and its stakeholders," the company had said in a regulatory filing on August 30.

The company's board has also sacked its Chairman Gautam Thapar with immediate effect.

The company has been hit by a major corporate governance issue involving unauthorised transactions and understatement of liabilities which caused a massive loss in share value.

The company had disclosed the findings of its risk and audit committee (RAC), which revealed that the firm and the group together could have under-reported liabilities to the extent of over Rs 3,600 crore in FY17 and FY18. They also understated the loans advanced to related and unrelated parties t o the tune of about Rs 7,600 crore during the two financial years.

"Recoverability of such amounts along with any interest and other related amounts, from related and other unrelated parties, will be evaluated with appropriate legal inputs, after which necessary actions will be instituted," the company has said in a regulatory filing to the BSE.