Drug major Sun Pharmaceutical Industries on September 5 said markets regulator SEBI has ordered a forensic audit on the company's financial statements for three years between 2015-16 and 2017-18.
Moneycontrol had first reported on September 3 that the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has ordered a forensic audit against India’s largest drugmaker to look into allegations of financial irregularities and lapses in corporate governance.
In its response to a query by the stock exchanges on the said forensic audit, Sun Pharma said, "A forensic audit has been ordered by Sebi w.r.t. the financial statements of Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd for the financial years ending March 31, 2016, March 31, 2017, and March 31, 2018".
The said forensic audit is currently going on, it added.
Sun Pharma, however, did not provide any specific details on the reasons for the Securities and Exchange Board of India to order the forensic audit.
A forensic audit is an examination and evaluation of a firm's or individual's financial records to derive evidence that can be used in a court of law or legal proceeding. Shares of Sun Pharmaceutical Industries closed at Rs 431.95 per scrip on the BSE, up 1.30 per cent from its previous close.
In February this year, Sun Pharma told stock exchanges that it had received two queries from SEBI related to a 2004 foreign currency convertible bonds (FCCB) issuance and about Sun's business with Aditya Medisales (AML), and it had responded to both of them.
Media reports then said that SEBI's queries were a result of the anonymous whistleblower complaint, which had questioned transactions amounting to over Rs 5,800 crore between AML and Suraksha Realty from money generated by the publicly-listed company.
SEBI has been poring over Sun Pharma's books of accounts to look into red flags raised by the whistle-blower in his complaint.
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