Ravi Parthasarathy (69), chairman of the high profile Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services (IL&FS) was arrested by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Tamil Nadu Police on Friday and a Chennai court remanded him to judicial custody for 15 days.

Ravi Parthasarathy, a close associate of former Finance Minister and Congress strongman P Chidambaram, and his company IL & FS have been slapped with crimes ranging from cheating to criminal breach of trust in the repayment of deposit amount of Rs 200 crore invested in debentures by the complainant company 63 Moons Technology Private Ltd. The company 63 Moons Technology Private Ltd is one of the many companies/individuals who were taken for a ride by the IL&FS and its directors by offering attractive interests on the investments made by  the formers in their Non Convertible Debentures of 1,000 and 2,000 having face vale of Rs 10 lakh each. The 63 Moons Technology invested Rs 200 crore in the NCDs when the IL&FS directors showed them  highly inflated balance sheets as well as high ratings from reputed credit rating agencies.

In 2018, the IL&FS and its Mumbai based subsidiary IL&FS Transportation Network India Ltd defaulted on the payment of interest on debentures, the aggrieved company filed cases against the former. Investigation by Enforcement Directorate and  Serious Fraud Investigation Office brought to light the role of key management personnel in mismanaging the lending business.

The Economic Offences Wing of Tamil Nadu Police had arrested Ramchand Karunakaran and Hari Sankaran in connection with the case. There are 21 accused in the case including Ravi Parthasarathy.

Parthasarathy had approached the Madras High Court seeking anticipatory bail and this put brakes on the efforts of Chennai Police to bring him to book. The EOW officials said that the IL&FS group which consists of more than 350 companies was used as a vehicle to perpetuate fraud. The EOW further stated that the aggrieved depositors and investors of IL& FS and ITNL can come forward with their claims.

The IL&FS was launched with fanfare as a road construction finance company and grew to boast 347 subsidiaries and had amassed debt pile of Rs 91,000 crore by the time the crisis broke out.