The brothers were arrested last month after they were charged with cheating (file)

Pharmaceutical giant Ranbaxy Laboratories' ex-promoter Malvinder Singh has been arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case. Mr Singh, who was already in Delhi Police's custody in connection with a Rs 740-crore fraud case filed against him and his brother Shivinder last year, has been handed over to the central agency by Tihar jail authorities.

The Enforcement Directorate had initiated a money laundering probe against Mr Singh and Shivinder -- both ex-promoters of Ranbaxy-- taking note of the fraud case filed by Religare Finvest in December last year.

The brothers-- charged with cheating, fraud and misappropriation of funds- were arrested last month.

Earlier this week, Shivinder Singh, Malvinder Singh and three others were sent to four-day police custody in the fraud case.

Ex-top executive of Religare, Sunil Godhwani, who was also in the custody of the Delhi Police, has also been arrested by the Enforcement Directorate, news agency PTI reported today.

The brothers were heirs to the multi-billion dollar Ranbaxy Laboratories founded by their father. They sold it to Japanese firm Daiichi Sankyo in 2008 and focused on the family-owned Fortis Healthcare, a hospital chain, and Religare Enterprises, a financial services firm.

In 2013, Daiichi moved an arbitration tribunal in Singapore alleging that the brothers, while selling Ranbaxy, had concealed information about the US Food and Drug Administration and the Department of Justice investigating the company. The tribunal in 2016 ordered the Singhs to pay Daiichi Rs. 2,562 crore. The brothers challenged the decision but in 2017, the Delhi High Court ordered them to pay up.

The brothers' feud began after they lost control of both Fortis Healthcare and Religare.

They resigned as directors from the board of Fortis Healthcare soon after the High Court decision, in February 2018. In September the same year, Shivinder Singh filed a case against his brother alleging "oppression and mismanagement" in their joint businesses - RHC Holding, Religare and Fortis.

Last year, the Supreme Court also dismissed the Singh brothers' appeal and confirmed the international arbitral award, saying it was not inclined to interfere with it.

Earlier this year, the brothers were told by the top court that they could go to jail for disobeying its orders to pay what was due to Daiichi Sankyo.

With inputs from PTI