Sebi asks investors to submit original documents for refund in PACL case

A high-powered Sebi committee on Monday asked investors in illegal schemes of PACL group, with claims of up to Rs 17,000, to produce original documents by March 20 for receiving refunds.

The panel has asked only those investors, whose applications have been successfully verified, to submit their original certificates.

The committee, headed by former Chief Justice of India RM Lodha, is overseeing the process of disposing of properties to refund investors after verifying their genuineness. It has already initiated the process of refund in phases. The panel was set up by Sebi in 2016 following a Supreme Court order.

The committee has decided to call for original PACL registration certificates from eligible investors with claims between Rs 15,001 and Rs 17,000, whose applications have been successfully verified, according to a statement published on Sebi's website on Monday.

Accordingly, intimation through SMS will be sent to all eligible investors, requiring them to submit original PACL registration certificates.

"The window for accepting original certificates shall remain open from February 27, 2023 to March 20, 2023," the statement added.

Further, investors have been cautioned against parting with their original PACL registration certificates unless SMS is received from the Committee, requiring submission of original certificates.

PACL also known as Pearl Group, which had raised Rs 60,000 crore from the public in the name of agriculture and real estate businesses, was found by Sebi to have collected these funds through illegal collective investment schemes over 18 years.

The Lodha panel is overseeing the process of disposing of properties to refund investors after verifying their genuineness.

In December 2015, the regulator ordered the attachment of all assets of PACL and its nine promoters and directors for their failure to refund the money, which was due to investors.

Sebi had asked PACL as well as its promoters and directors to refund the money in an order passed in August 2014. The defaulters were directed to wind up the schemes and refund money to investors within three months.