Alchemist Group chairman trying to siphon off money to tax havens: Sebi to HC

Seeking directions for a thorough probe, capital market regulator Sebi has told the Calcutta High Court that Alchemist Group's chairman K D Singh was allegedly trying to siphon off around USD 100 million from the money deposited by gullible investors to tax havens, including for buying strip clubs and vacation homes abroad.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) today approached a division bench of justices Aniruddha Bose and Joymalyo Bagchi with a plea that it was not legally competent to conduct such a probe and the court should direct competed agencies to investigate the matter.

The regulator alleged that Singh was trying to siphon off investors' deposits worth hundreds of crores of rupees from Alchemist group, which has been under Sebi's scanner for garnering funds from public investors in violation of rules.

In its application, Sebi said that "K D Singh is in the process of siphoning off around USD 100 million, earned by way of duping the innocent public in the guise of fake deposit scheme, in buying companies abroad via tax havens."
Sebi said it has been informed of all these assets and the nature of their dealings, but "it (the regulator) is neither authorised nor legally competent to make investigation in this regard and also not competent to recover assets as it involves flow of funds abroad and assets in foreign jurisdictions, if the information is correct."