Sebi to auction properties of Royal Twinkle, Citrus Check Inns on Sep 25

Capital markets regulator Sebi has lined up as many as 97 properties of Royal Twinkle Star Club and Citrus Check Inns for auction on September 25 at a reserve price of over Rs 350 crore.

The move is part of the Sebi's effort to recover funds worth thousands of crores of rupees raised by the companies in the garb of sham ''timeshare'' holiday plans.

In a notice on Monday, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) said it will auction as many as 97 properties of the companies on September 25 at a reserve price of more than Rs 350 crore.

The auction will be conducted through online mode, it added.

The properties to go under the hammer include land parcels, office premises, a car parking area and a shop in Maharashtra.

In addition, the regulator would auction four vehicles belonging to Royal Twinkle, Twinkle Hospitality and Citrus Resorts for a reserve price totalling Rs 8.28 lakh.

The vehicles included Tata Indica, Skoda Superb Elegance and Mahindra Logan.

Apart from these, the regulator will also auction few properties of the companies on September 17 at a reserve price of Rs 68.54 crore.

From November 2019 to January 2021, more than 72 properties of the companies were auctioned at a reserve price of over Rs 540 crore.

The move came after a Supreme Court order in December 2019 that directed the sale-cum-monitoring committee headed by retired Justice J P Devdhar to proceed with the sale of 114 properties of the companies within six months.

In December 2018, Sebi had imposed a penalty of Rs 50 lakh on Citrus Check Inns and its directors for non-compliance with its order, wherein it had barred them from raising funds from the public.

Sebi had received several investor complaints against Citrus alleging that directors of Royal Twinkle were now running their collective investment scheme (CIS) through Citrus.

In August 2015, the regulator had imposed a four-year ban on Royal Twinkle and its four directors for illegally raising over Rs 2,656 crore in the garb of sham ''timeshare'' holiday plans.

Besides, it had directed the company and its officials to refund the money along with promised returns to the investors in three months.