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Various courts in the country slapped convictions in 14 cases related to illegal collective investments schemes last fiscal, taking the total of such verdicts to 138, according to market regulator Sebi.
As on March 31, 2013, Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) had obtained court judgements in 171 cases related to unauthorised collective investment schemes (CIS), as per its latest annual report.
Of these, convictions have been obtained in 138 matters.
While 24 cases were dismissed and two withdrawn, seven were fully compounded by the courts.
Since the start of launch of prosecution against erring CIS entities, criminal prosecution cases have been launched by Sebi against CIS entities, Sebi said.
"Since then, court judgements have been obtained in a total of 171 CIS entities," it added.
In recent months, the issue of garnering of funds through fraudulent investment schemes with promise of huge returns have been making news. These entities are required to have regulatory approvals to undertake CIS activities.
At the end of fiscal 2012-13, Gift Collective Investment Management Company Ltd was the only one registered CIS by Sebi. It was registered during 2008-09.
Some of the companies which were convicted for violating Sebi's CIS regulations were Flawless Plantations and Nexus Farms. These firms and its directors were imposed with monetary penalties and rigorous imprisonment of four months.
The government has given Sebi greater powers to take on such fraudulent schemes and mandated the market watchdog to regulate all kinds of investment schemes involving a corpus of Rs 100 and more.
