Mortgaging the two hotels, plus New York’s Dreams Downtown hotel, will help the shadow financing group raise 30.7 billion rupees, Sahara lawyer Rajiv Dhawan told the Supreme Court in New Delhi today.
The proposal to mortgage the overseas hotels is the latest attempt by Sahara to secure the release of Roy, 66. He has been in judicial custody for nine months as a result of a four-year, $3.9 billion refund dispute with the Indian markets regulator, the Securities and Exchange Board of India.
“This is the best possible deal we could have after the proposal to sell the hotels to the Sultan of Brunei fell through in August,” Dhawan told the court. “We do not want to sell them in distress,” he said.
The court today asked for Sebi’s views on the mortgage proposal and set Dec. 17 as the date for its next hearing.
The proceeds of the plan would be paid into an escrow account that, according to a Nov. 28 statement from Sahara, already has 31.17 billion rupees.
The three-judge Supreme Court panel today authorized the group to sell properties in the Indian cities of Gurgaon, Jodhpur, Pune and Vasai as a separate measure to gather funds toward the bail. Sahara expects to raise 24.6 billion rupees from those transactions, Dhawan said.