Earlier, on 5 May 2023, the ED had frozen assets worth Rs 143 crore belonging to V P Nandakumar as part of an investigation into a money laundering case. The ED alleged that Nandakumar was involved in money laundering and large-scale cash transactions through his proprietary firm, Manappuram Agro Farms (MAGRO), without the approval of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The ED claimed that evidence of these activities, including public deposits collected illegally through some employees of Manappuram Finance, had been recovered.

In response to these allegations, Nandakumar informed the board of directors that MAGRO had ceased accepting, renewing, and soliciting deposits in 2012 following an RBI directive. He mentioned that he had raised around Rs 159.45 crore in 2012 through the sale of shares to repay the deposit amounts. Between 1 February 2012, and 16 March 2012, Rs 34.56 crore had already been repaid, while the remaining amount was deposited in an escrow account.

This recent ruling by the Kerala High Court effectively overturns the ED's case against V P Nandakumar.

Manappuram Finance is one of India's leading gold loan NBFCs. On a consolidated basis, its net profit of Manappuram Finance jumped 75.80% to Rs 495.89 crore on 36.9% increase in total income to Rs 2057.17 crore in Q1 June 2023 over Q1 June 2022.