India's M&M Financial discovers funds embezzlement at one branch, delays Q4 results

Mahindra and Mahindra Financial Services

23/04/2024 05:38

BENGALURU, April 23 (Reuters) - India's Mahindra and
Mahindra Financial Services  MMFS.NS  uncovered company funds
were embezzled by forging some documents for retail vehicle
loans at one of its branches, the company said on Tuesday,
sending its shares sliding as much as 6%.
    The company, the non-bank financing arm of tractor-to-tech
conglomerate Mahindra Group, said it discovered the fraud in
late March and that it has taken some corrective actions,
including the arrest of "few persons" involved.
    "In respect of retail vehicle loans disbursed by the company
the fraud involved forgery of KYC (know your customer) documents
leading to embezzlement of company funds. The investigations in
the matter are at an advanced stage," the company said.
    It estimated that the financial impact of the fraud is
unlikely to exceed 1.50 billion rupees ($18 million).
    The company was scheduled to report its results for the
quarter that ended on March 31 on Tuesday but has now delayed
that to a yet-to-be-decided date.
    It did not disclose any further details on the fraud,
including the amount embezzled or the names of the people
involved.
    The company's shares were last down about 4% at 267.40
rupees in morning trading.
 
 ($1 = 83.3090 Indian rupees)

 (Reporting by Hritam Mukherjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio
D'Souza)
 ((Hritam.Mukherjee@thomsonreuters.com; X: @MukherjeeHritam;))