Sebi directs Orion Industries, officials to refund illegally collected amount

Regulator Sebi on Wednesday directed Orion Industries Ltd and its senior officials to refund the illegally collected amount of Rs 5 crore to investors along with 15 per cent interest.

The senior officials are-- Md Mahfuz Alam, Parwez Alam, Md Kamal Koshar, Mohammad Salimuddin Ansari, Manzur Alam and Punam Bharati.

The directions came after the regulator noted that the firm collected Rs 5.46 crore between 2011 and 2013 by issuing redeemable preference share (RPS), without complying with the Companies Act.

The amount was raised by allotting the RPS to 4,192 investors, Sebi noted.

Sebi concluded that the offer of RPS by the firm was a "public issue" within the meaning of the Companies Act, 1956.

"The offer of RPS are deemed to be public issues and OIL was mandated to comply with the 'public issue' norms as prescribed under the Companies Act," Sebi said.

However, the firm failed to do so.

Accordingly, the Securities and Exchange Board of India has directed the firm and directors to "jointly and severally" refund the amount to the investors along with 15 per cent interest from the eighth day of collection of funds till the date of actual payment.

In addition, they have also been restrained from accessing the securities market for four years starting from the date of completion of refunds to investors.

Apart from these officials, Sebi in July 2019 passed an interim order issuing several directions against the firm and its two other officials-- Santanu Sen Choudhury and Mohammed Afaque Ahmad.

While Sebi has revoked the directions passed against Mohammed Afaque Ahmad in the interim order, a new set of directions have been passed for Santanu Sen Choudhury.

In a separate order, Sebi levied a fine of Rs 3 lakh on Ashok Kumar Damani for indulging in fraudulent trading in illiquid stock options on the BSE.

Sebi has imposed the fine on Damani for violating PFUTP (Prohibition of Fraudulent and Unfair Trade Practices) regulations.