Hari Shankar Tibrewala held shares in these 14 companies. They are now owned by the government.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has taken control of shares previously owned by Hari Shankar Tibrewala in at least 14 public companies, following an investigation into suspected stock market manipulation linked to his involvement with the illegal Mahadev betting app. This action occurred less than eight months after the ED began its probe into Tibrewala, who is considered a key figure in a small-cap stock market manipulation scheme.

A review of the shareholding patterns revealed that the transfer of ownership from Tibrewala’s entities to the ED took place in the last week of November. The 14 small-cap companies, collectively valued at ₹21,880 crore, included Tibrewala-owned firms such as Zenith Multi Trading DMCC, Ecotek General Trading LLC, and Caterfield Global DMCC, which were shareholders as of the end of September. As of February 1, these shares, worth ₹590 crore, are now under the ED’s control.

Zenith, Ecotek, and Caterfield Global are registered in Dubai, with Zenith established in June 2013, followed by Ecotek in 2018 and Caterfield in 2020, according to registration documents from the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre. Notably, Zenith and Ecotek share the same contact number.

While the ED’s confiscation of shares is focused on Tibrewala, many entities owned by his associates still hold shares in listed companies. Suraj Chokhani, another individual arrested by the ED, is linked to Tibrewala and owns shares in various listed companies through privately held firms, including Dream Achiever Consultancy Services Pvt. Ltd, Brilliant Investment Consultants Pvt. Ltd, and Forest Vincom Pvt. Ltd. These companies continue to hold shares in small-cap firms such as BLB Ltd, LKP Finance Ltd, Gogia Capital Growth Ltd, and North Eastern Carrying Corp Ltd.

The ED’s investigation began after discovering Tibrewala’s connections to the Mahadev Online betting app, with the agency labeling him a significant hawala operator. It was reported that he was channeling betting proceeds into the Indian stock market via foreign portfolio investments.