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Summary: It started with a single complaint about money that had not been collected. It ended, for now, with a forensic audit, a barred chairman and questions about whether some of India's largest reported corporate revenues ever existed at all.
Rajesh Exports, a Bengaluru-based gold refining and jewellery company, was slapped with a 109-page interim order by SEBI on Wednesday (June 3, 2026). The allegation? Between FY21 and FY25, the company misrepresented its reported revenues of approximately Rs 15.15 lakh crore.
How it all started?
On March 11, 2024, SEBI received a complaint from a shareholder, stating that Rajesh Exports had trade receivables which had not been paid for over two years. Subsequently, the regulator initiated a formal investigation in October that year and appointed BDO India Services as a forensic auditor for the same.
The allegation primarily concerns the company’s overseas revenues. Between FY21 and FY25, Rajesh Exports reported consolidated revenues of around Rs 15.45 lakh crore. As per the regulator, around 97-99 per cent of this was attributable to overseas subsidiaries and that Rs 15.15 lakh crore of the total revenue of Rs 15.45 lakh crore could not be independently verified.
While SEBI requested the company to provide its customer-wise sales data, vendor-wise purchase records and financial statements of its overseas subsidiaries, many of these requests either went unanswered or were partly addressed. Further, BDO India reported that it was denied access to Rajesh Exports’ ERP (enterprise resource planning) systems and books of accounts.
Fudging the numbers
Before understanding the allegations, it is important to know the company’s corporate structure first.
Rajesh Exports wholly owns REL Singapore, which in turn, owns Global Gold Refineries AG (GGR), a Switzerland-based entity. GGR, in turn, owns Valcambi SA, the Swiss refinery that Rajesh Exports has described as its principal operating entity.
As part of the investigation, SEBI compared consolidated revenues against the audited standalone financial statements of Valcambi SA. For the calendar year 2023, Valcambi SA reported standalone revenue of Rs 542.68 crore. In the same period, GGR reported consolidated revenue of Rs 2.93 lakh crore. Rajesh Exports reported Rs 2.81 lakh crore at the consolidated level.
Rajesh Exports told SEBI that Valcambi SA's accounts reflect only processing charges and value-addition income, while GGR accounts for the gross value of gold transactions. The regulator said the company did not provide sufficient documentation to support this treatment. The company also cited Swiss data protection laws as a reason for not sharing certain subsidiary information. SEBI rejected this argument, saying it does not justify withholding information from Indian regulators.
SEBI also examined the company's standalone books. Between FY22 and FY24, Rajesh Exports recorded sales of Rs 11,487 crore with an entity called ‘Affluence Shares and Stocks’. Purchases from the same entity totalled Rs 11,488 crore. These transactions accounted for around two-thirds of the company's standalone sales and purchases during this period. When asked, Affluence Shares and Stocks said it had no business relationship with Rajesh Exports and dealt only with Mehta in his personal capacity. Rajesh Exports told SEBI that trades were rerouted through Mehta's personal account due to ongoing litigation with MCX. SEBI said this was not supported by contemporaneous documentation or board approvals.
Lastly, SEBI also flagged the movement of company funds. It alleged that Rs 339 crore was transferred from Rajesh Exports to accounts linked to Mehta, of which Rs 232 crore was returned. In total, Rs 926 crore was routed through transactions linked to Mehta without board or audit committee approval and without required related-party disclosures. The order also examined transactions with Elest, a company incorporated in October 2020 by Mehta and his brother Prashant Mehta that manufactures lithium-ion cells, battery packs and electric vehicles. SEBI found a net outflow of Rs 215.85 crore from Rajesh Exports to Elest that was not adequately disclosed as a related-party transaction. Separately, the order flagged Rs 1,035 crore in claimed investments in gold mining assets in Africa, which the company could not substantiate with documentation.
What does the company say?
Rajesh Exports has contested every finding. In exchange filings, the company said its declared revenues are correct, there is no overstatement, and described the matter as a ‘communication gap and confusion’ with the regulator.
SEBI has estimated that the alleged misrepresentation and fund movements resulted in shareholder wealth erosion of Rs 12,726 crore. Among the company's largest institutional shareholders is LIC, which holds approximately 10.8 per cent of Rajesh Exports as per the latest available data. The stock fell sharply after the order. On June 4, 2026, shares hit a 5 per cent lower circuit and closed at Rs 104.65 on BSE. This was 54 per cent below the 52-week high of Rs 239, reached on December 22, 2025.
Currently, Mehta remains restrained from dealing in Rajesh Exports' securities until further directions. Both the company and Mehta retain the right to respond fully as proceedings continue.
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