This is the story of a Jammu-based NBFC (non-banking financial company). At a time when fintechs are still struggling to obtain NBFC licenses, a Delhi-based couple acquired Mahashakti Financiers Ltd.

The complete ownership transfer of this NBFC, which had over 100 shareholders as of March 31, 2024, was finalized within a year.

In simple terms, the new owners managed to facilitate the share transfer from individual shareholders spread across the country, including places like Madhubani (Bihar), Bundi (Rajasthan), Satna (Madhya Pradesh) and so on.

The tipping point came when the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) summoned Mahashakti Financiers' directors to a meeting to explain the delay in submitting their provisional financial statements.

Fast forward to the meeting date — November 8. That’s when the Pandora’s box opened.

Mahashakti Financiers’ new directors, including Dheeraj Aneja, his wife Vinal Aneja, and others, attended the meeting at the RBI’s Jammu office.

“They [the RBI] asked routine questions — why the company hasn’t filed its financial statements yet, how it communicates with its customers, and business details specific to Jammu, where the NBFC is registered,” a person aware of the matter told The Head and Tale.

A senior company official provided the available details, including a sanction letter that revealed the company was charging customers a daily interest rate of 1%. “Everything was going fine until the official noticed discrepancies in the data being submitted to the RBI,” the source added.

According to the source, Mahashakti’s directors apparently discussed presenting borrowers from Pathankot as Jammu-based borrowers to the RBI. “This could have been an attempt to comply with regulations encouraging NBFCs to operate primarily within the state where they are registered,” the source said, adding that the company also misreported data in the provisional statements shared with the regulator.

Mahashakti Financiers Ltd is a Jammu-based NBFC, set up as a private limited entity in 1997. In 2013, the company was changed to the public incorporated company.

Delhi-based Dheeraj Aneja and his wife, Vinal Aneja — owners of a logistics company called Mosaic Global Pvt Ltd — initiated the process of acquiring this NBFC in May 2023. While the management transfer was ongoing, the Anejas launched a digital lending business called ‘Sabka Loan’ through Mahashakti. Loan disbursements were conducted using Mahashakti’s account.

Sabka Loan began disbursing loans in August 2023.

Meanwhile, Dheeraj Aneja joined Mahashakti Financiers as an additional director on June 20, 2023.

The source claims that there was no need for the data manipulation since the lending operations were conducted in compliance with regulations. However, the company’s directors panicked after the RBI meeting, fearing an investigation.

The next day, on November 9, the directors locked the senior official out of the company’s systems and forced them to relinquish control of the business, ultimately leading to the official’s resignation.

A data seen by The Head and Tale shows that from August 2023 to October 2024, the company disbursed close to Rs 27 crore in loans. In August last year, Rs 14.5 lakh was disbursed, whereas in October 2024 alone, the disbursement was about Rs 4.7 crore.

The senior official – we have been told even complaint to the RBI about the data misreporting – alleging that Mahashakti Financiers presented provisional financial statements to the RBI that significantly underreported their revenue.

The provisional statements till September 2024 – which The Head and Tale has seen – showed only Rs 3.4 crore in revenue from operations. However, the internal records maintained by the Sabka Loan team shows that between April 2024 and September 2024, Mahashakti disbursed total Rs 14 crore in loans. The company’s revenue from operations – which includes interest income plus the processing fees – generated Rs 3.8 crore in interest income and processing fees is 10% of the loan value. This makes the total revenue at around Rs 5 crore.

In eight months i.e. between August 2023-March 2024, the total disbursements through Sabka Loan stood at 7 crore. The interest earned in eight months was close to Rs 1.8 crore. For the full year, the NBFC reported a revenue of Rs 2.8 crore – it is not clear how much Mahashakti disbursed between April 2024 and July 2024.

Having said that, one thing that stood out in FY24 statement is the ‘related-party’ transaction. The financial statement ending March 2024 shows a related-party transaction: "unsecured loan acceptance from Dheeraj Aneja and his other entity Mosaic Global totalling Rs 1.92 crore".

It is not sure how was this loan utilized/booked by the NBFC.

In the NBFC’s director's report, Mahashakti has mentioned that “the RBI approval on management change came on June 3, 2024.”

That's when Dheeraj Aneja became the director of the company. His wife Vinal Aneja was inducted as additional director on July 7, 2024; and later became the director. Savita Malik, an employee of Mosaic Global, has also been inducted as the director. 

None of these three directors have any financial services experience.

Looks like two previous directors from the NBFC still continue to hold positions in the company. 

It is not clear whether the company has been again changed to the private limited company. Another Amritsar-based public incorporated entity Help Finance Limited, as of March 2024, held over 30% stake in Mahashakti Financiers.

The senior official – as told by the source – has written to the RBI of the alleged fraud informing about the data misrepresentation; manipulation in the management change documents; and Punjab customers shown as Jammu database.

It is not clear whether the RBI has acted upon the allegations yet.

The outcome of any regulatory action – if and when taken – will likely determine the future of Mahashakti Financiers and the extent of the alleged fraud.

Detailed queries sent to Dheeraj Aneja and the RBI Jammu office is yet to receive a response. We will update the story as and when it comes.