Tarun Sharma Moneycontrol News
The Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) has prepared the second list of 18 companies which deposited unusually large sums of cash in their bank accounts soon after demonetisation.
Collectively, these companies had deposited around Rs 10,000 crore between them. Moneycontrol has the list of the companies, many of which are now dormant and have already been blacklisted by the government.
In May this year, the MCA had identified 331 companies which had deposited large sums of cash. Of these, 311 were listed entities. In August, the Securities and Exchange Board of India had shifted shares of the listed companies into Graded Surveillance Mechanism, thereby severely restricting trading activity in them.
“The Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) has begun a probe against 18 companies, along with the Registrar of Companies,” a senior official of Ministry of Corporate Affairs told Moneycontrol.
In this list, which was reviewed by Moneycontrol, the highest sum of cash was deposited by a Andhra Pradesh-registered company. Most of the companies are from RoC Delhi, Mumbai, and Andhra Pradesh.
Moneycontrol’s investigations further revealed that most of the 18 companies were operating under two different names. While one of them active, the other was dormant which was invariably used to route illegal money.
A senior Ministry of Corporate Affairs official told Moneycontrol: “We are investing these dummy names and try to find out the reason for taking two names of same company”.
Dreamline Manpower Solution Private Limited, which deposited Rs 3166 crore, was in existence for just six years, before its name was struck off by the RoC recently. The company’s last annual general meeting was held in September 2014, according to RoC records. The company has a paid-up capital of Rs 1 lakh and has only two directors. Both directors are the boards of eight other companies. The RoC records do not mention the business activity of the company.
Second on the list is a NCR-based dormant company which has deposited around Rs 2450 crore. This company too has been struck off by the RoC from its records. There is no information available about the company’s directors. As per RoC records, this company acts as a broker in different kinds of trading activities.
Other companies on the list include Sterling Agro Industries Limited, which has deposited Rs 626.67 crore. It comes under Delhi Registrar of companies, and its main businesses are horticulture, growing of crops and market gardening.
Harayana-based CMI Limited (different from the Delhi-based listed company with a similar name), incorporated in 1901 as per RoC records, deposited Rs 466 crore post-demonetization. This company, too, has been struck off by the RoC. In response to Moneycontrol’s query, CMI responded that it had “deposited a sum of Rs 28.15 lakh in cash after demonetization.” It further added that it could have been a caes of mistaken identity as there were many companies functioning under names similar to CMI.
Maverick Holdings and Investment Private Limited is Mumbai-based company and is not on the RoC list anymore. Maverick deposited Rs 430 crore after demonetization. There was no further information available on the company.
Great Eastern Energy Corporation Limited is Delhi-based. This company submitted Rs 400 crore. Three other companies were known to share the same office address as Great Eastern Energy Corporation. All four, including Great Eastern, have been struck off the list.
The Great Eastern Energy Corporation mentioned above has nothing to do with London Stock Exchange-listed Great Eastern Energy Corporation Ltd, which is active and registered at Asansol in West Bengal, India.
Delhi-based Seeds and Grains India Private Limited Company submitted Rs 308 crore to the banks after cash ban.
MG Housing, Delhi-based real estate company, is under MCA and SFIO’s lens for depositing Rs 308 crore.
However, in response to Moneycontrol, the company categorically denied any wrongdoing. The company maintained that it was a transparent company and was ready to disclose any documents to any investigation agency.
SEW Euro Drive India Private Limited, another dormant firm, registered with Delhi RoC (different from the SEW Euro Drive Private Limited registered with the Ahmedabad RoC) deposited Rs 255 crore. As per ROC filing, the company manufactures a special type of machinery.
Pune’s Logix Soft-Tel Private Limited, now dormant, submitted Rs 255 crore.
Manufacturer of basic iron and steel Royaloak Steels Private Limited, an Andhra Pradesh-based company submitted Rs 240 crore.
Delhi based Atma Tube Products Limited deposited Rs 225 crore.
Mumbai’s pipes company Sujala Pipes Private Limited submitted Rs 161 crore.
Gujarat’s Katira Construction Company deposited Rs 135 crore, Telangana based Prajasakthi Printers and Publishers submitted Rs 127 crore. Rajasthan’s Raghuveer Metal Industries Limited submitted Rs 115 crore. Two Maharashtra-based companies Minda Sai Limited and Genesys (not the listed Genesys International Corporation) submitted Rs 108 crore and Rs 105 crore, respectively.
In response to a Moneycontrol questionnaire, Genesys International Corporation said that it had deposited Rs 38.62 lakh of cash in the bank post-demonetisation.
In a query sent to Minda Sai, the company said that it had transferred its “registered office of the company to Delhi and got a new CIN (company identification number). The Delhi-registered company has been actively filing reports to RoC and is under active operation.” The company also said it has no links with Spark Minda Group.
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