ED Arrests Sadhna Group Chairman in ₹168 Crore Money Laundering Case

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has arrested Rakesh Kumar Gupta, chairman and managing director of the Sadhna Group, in a money laundering case linked to alleged manipulation of insolvency proceedings involving Sadhna Media Pvt. Ltd. (SMPL), with the agency estimating the suspected proceeds of crime at approximately ₹168 crore.

Gupta, 63, was arrested in Delhi at around 10.25 pm on October 9 under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). He was produced before Additional Sessions Judge Saurabh Pratap Singh Laler at his residential camp office in Ghaziabad around 2 am on October 10. The court granted five days of ED custody, although the agency sought seven days.

The investigation stems from a September 2026 FIR registered by the Delhi Police's Economic Offences Wing. The complaint alleges that Gupta engineered SMPL's insolvency through connected creditors controlling 99.41 per cent of the Committee of Creditors, enabling income-tax dues of ₹110.10 crore to be settled for just ₹20 lakh.

Investigators are examining alleged receipts of ₹2.50 crore to ₹2.82 crore through cryptocurrency and hawala channels linked to the resale of SMPL and Aryan TV. The company allegedly paid ₹4.48 crore to connected creditors, including ₹2.99 crore to Sharpline Broadcast Ltd., identified as Gupta's company. The ED is also examining ₹8.98 crore reportedly payable to Saroj Construction and Graphisads without a corresponding banking trail.

SMPL's insolvency proceedings were admitted by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on March 30, 2022, and its resolution plan was approved on September 17, 2024. The ED is investigating whether the process was manipulated to reduce government dues and benefit connected parties.

The case also draws on SEBI's May 29, 2025, order concerning alleged share-price manipulation involving Sadhna Broadcast, which examined misleading YouTube promotions and coordinated trading. Gupta was reportedly held jointly and severally liable for approximately ₹58 crore. SEBI records also show recovery proceedings dated September 21, 2026.

Gupta's counsel argued that he had obtained a tax no-dues certificate and paid the SEBI penalty. The court rejected the contention that the absence of separate complaints from the tax department or SEBI made the ED's action unlawful. It cited the alleged public revenue loss and the need to examine electronic evidence and transactions outside banking channels.

The allegations remain under investigation, and guilt has not been established by a final judgment.