Mumbai, April 1: In its first arrest in its probe into fraud-hit Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services (IL&FS), the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) on Monday arrested the lender's ex-Chairman Hari Sankaran, a official statement said on Monday. Sankaran was produced before a special court here which sent him to SFIO's custody till Thursday.

"Hari Sankaran has been arrested in connection with the ongoing investigations in to the affairs of IL&FS and its group entities. He has been arrested on the grounds of abusing his powers in IL&FS Financial Services Ltd," the SFIO, which is probing IL&FS under provisions of the Companies Act, said. Debt-Ridden IL&FS Taken Over by Govt, Uday Kotak and GC Chaturvedi to be Part of New Board.

It has accused Sankaran - part of the erstwhile IL&FS board - of granting loans to entities that were not creditworthy or declared Non-Performing Assets (NPAs), this causing huge losses to the company and its creditors.

The IL&FS Financial Services Ltd had notched borrowings of over Rs 17,000 crore from debt instruments and bank loans. Besides, provident, pension, gratuity and mutual funds, public and private sector banks were among who have invested in these debt instruments.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 01, 2019 11:34 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).