SEBI to auction properties of Royal Twinkle, Citrus Check Inns on Mar 27

Markets regulator Sebi has lined up properties of Royal Twinkle Star Club and Citrus Check Inns for an auction on March 27 at a reserve price of over Rs 68 crore.

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

The decision comes after the Supreme Court December 2019 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 a notice, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) said it will auction properties of the companies on March 27 at a reserve price of over Rs 68 crore.

The properties to go under the hammer include land parcel, hotel and office premise in Mumbai, Lonavala and Alappuzha in Kerala.

Earlier in February, the regulator auctioned 59 properties of the companies on February 10 at a reserve price of a little over Rs 213 crore. During the November-January period, eight properties of Royal Twinkle and Citrus Check Inns were auctioned at a reserve price of Rs 244 crore.

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.