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The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has upped its ante against Pearl Agro Corporation (PACL).
As per sources, the market regulator recently wrote to Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) to hasten the winding up process of the company.
Sebi wrote the letter to MCA on November 14 alerting the ministry that inspite of passing an order against the company and barring it from raising any more funds from the public, the entity was still collecting money from the general public.
After receiving tips from market participants that PACL was still operating and was offering investors the dubious scheme in some parts of the country, the regulator conducted its own investigation.
“During our survey and investigation we realized that the company has several agents in areas of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Uttarakhand, Maharashtra, Ahmedabad that are still peddling the scheme,” said a source.
In the letter, to the Serious Fraud and Investigative Office (SFIO) of MCA, the markets regulator has asked the ministry to take an action against these agents and expedite the proceedings to wind up the operations of the company.
The reference from Sebi on the case has also been forwarded to the finance ministry and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). CBI has been directed to conclude their investigation in the matter in a timely fashion.
Additionally, Sebi is also likely to issue an advisory to investors to caution them against the scheme.
Email query sent to PACL and subsequent reminders did not illicit any response from the company.
In August, Sebi had passed an order against PACL, asking the firm to refund around Rs 50,000 crore raised from 58.5 million customers within 3 months, a deadline that recently got over.
In Sebi’s 92-page order, the total amount mobilised by the company, “by its own admission" comes to a whopping Rs 49,100 crore and “this figure could have been even more if PACL would have provided the details of the funds mobilised during the period of April 1, 2012 to February 25, 2013.”
Sebi order states that PACL operated a land investment scheme, which qualified as a collective investment scheme, without proper registration.
The order also mentions that investors failed to receive any land even after years of investments into schemes offered by PACL.
In February this year, CBI registered a First Information Report (FIR) against Nirmal Singh Bhangoo, promoter of PACL and PACL as it found that the company was running an alleged scam worth Rs 45,000 crore. PACL ran a collective investment scheme (CIS) under the garb of sale and development of agricultural land.
