Complaints of fraud received against 132 companies: Pilot

The government has received complaints of fraud against 132 companies since 2009-10 financial year to date and as many as 89 cases have been referred to the Serious Fraud Investigation Office for further probe, Parliament was informed today.

Complaints against 12 companies that collected money from investors by promising high returns but became dormant have been referred to market regulator Sebi and Economic Offences Wing of respective state governments, Corporate Affairs Minister Sachin Pilot said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabh.

"From the years 2009-10 to 2013-14 (till date), 132 cases of fraud/illegal transaction have been brought to the notice of this Ministry," he said.

Out of them, 89 have been referred to the SFIO while in 21 cases inspection of companies' books of accounts and other records have been ordered under the Companies Act. In eight cases, the concerned Registrar of Companies have been asked to scrutinise the balance sheets and other documents of concerned entities.

"Complaints of fraud against 12 companies, which launched Collective Investment Schemes or collected money by promising high returns but became dormant and did not refund the money, have been referred to the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi)... and Economic Offences Wing of the respective state governments," the Minister said.

Meanwhile, out of the 132 companies against whom complaints have been received, two are under liquidation.

So far this fiscal (2013-14), SFIO probe has been ordered into 54 entities, while the number stood at 19 in the last financial year.

In the wake of the incident of Kolkata-based Saradha Group allegedly duping investors, the government last month directed SFIO to investigate 54 entities for alleged illegal money pooling schemes.

Pilot also said the government is taking measures to detect potential corporate frauds.

In this regard, the Ministry is developing a 'Fraud Prediction Model' that would generate alerts for analysis and early detection of potential frauds.

"A Steering Committee consisting of domain experts has been set up by the Ministry to suggest a comprehensive framework for developing such a model," Pilot said.

PTI