Sebi orders Arohan Trustee to refund investors' money

Markets regulator Sebi on Monday directed Arohan Trustee Company to refund the amount collected from investors under the garb of an 'art fund' with interest.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has also barred the company from accessing the securities market "for a period of four years or till the payment of amount, whichever is later".

Besides, it has restrained the company from raising money from investors through any Collective Investment Schemes (CIS).

The order comes after the Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT), in March 2016, set aside a Sebi order against Arohan, which was barred by the regulator and asked to refund Rs 24.50 crore collected from investors.

SAT had asked Sebi to pass a fresh order in the matter.

Citing the case of Osian's Connoisseurs of Art, the firm had stated that SAT considered similar issues and remanded the matter on certain issues for reconsideration.

In the matter of Osian's Connoisseurs of Art, SAT had set aside a direction of Sebi, which ordered the firm to refund Rs 102.4 crore collected from 656 investors for one of its art fund schemes and asked the regulator to decide those issues afresh after hearing the appellant and respondent.

However, the tribunal had upheld the regulator's order in respect to barring the firm.

According to Sebi, Arohan Trustee Company had sponsored the art fund without obtaining certificate as mandated under CIS norms.

In its final order, Sebi said, "Arohan Trustee Company Private Limited shall refund the balance of the amount collected from the investors in its Indian Art Fund Scheme" with an interest of 10 per cent per annum.

The balance amount collected shall be refunded within a period of six months and the interest shall be paid within a period of nine months, the regulator added.

"However, in view of the exceptional circumstances emerging due to the outbreak of COVID-19 and consequential lockdown in the country, the direction shall come into force on May 1, 2020," Sebi noted.

In April 2015, Sebi had asked Arohan Trustee Company to refund the money in three months along with an interest of 10 per cent per annum, from the date of investment till the date of part refunds.

As many as 94 investors had contributed an amount of Rs 24.50 crore to the fund of Arohan Trustee Company, the regulator had said.

Sebi conducted a probe in the matter after it came across certain media reports and newspaper articles regarding mobilisation of funds from investors under the scheme of 'art fund', with an objective to invest in works of art.