Produced by: BT Desk
IDFC First Bank MD and CEO V Vaidyanathan gifted 7 lakh shares worth nearly Rs 5.5 crore to five people, which includes an IAF veteran who had loaned him Rs 1,000.
As per filings, Vaidyanathan gifted 50,000 shares to one Sameer Mhatre for a house, 75,000 shares to Mayank Mrinal Ghosh as "financial security to kin due to bereavement of colleague" and 2.5 lakh shares to Wg. Cdr. (Rtd.) Sampath Kumar as medical assistance to a senior citizen.
Sampath Kumar had loaned Vaidyanathan Rs 1,000 a long time back. The banker started looking for him. The IAF veteran's family reached out to Vaidyanathan after reading a media article.
The loan of just Rs 1,000 was paid in the form of 2.5 lakh shares, worth about Rs 2 crore, for Kumar's treatment.
Two others who were given shares were - A Kanojia (2.75 lakh shares for house) and Manoj Sahay 'a friend of the banker'. The gift transactions were recorded in the week on March 21.
No direct or indirect benefits derived by Mr V. Vaidyanathan from these transactions, the bank said in a filing. Vaidyanathan owns about 1% stake in the bank and has gifted about Rs 80 crore worth of shares so far to friends and those in need.
In 2022, the banker had gifted 9 lakh shares held by him, worth over Rs 3.95 crore, to five individuals, including his trainer, domestic help and driver, to help them purchase homes. In 2020, he reportedly gifted shares to his former math teacher who lent him Rs 500 when he got into a premier school but did not have the money to travel.