SFIO probes 24 companies for fraudulent schemes in FY'17

As many as 24 companies have been referred to the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) for allegedly running illegal money raising schemes in the current fiscal, the government said today.

It had received complaints regarding cheating of small investors by the companies involved in ponzi, chit fund and multi-level marketing activities.

In a written reply to the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Corporate Affairs Arjun Ram Meghwal said the ministry has ordered investigation through SFIO into such companies (24).

These companies include Maitri Suvarnasidhi Pvt Ltd, Make Biscuits Pvt Ltd, Samudra Villa, Goldmine Animal Husbandry and Prayag Infotech Hi-Rise.

Out of 24 companies, cases pertaining to West Bengal are 19, Assam (3) and Maharashtra and Odisha (1 each). SFIO, which comes under the ministry, has filed 229 complaints in different courts/forums in 2013-14, 2014-15 and 2015-16 for

SFIO, which comes under the ministry, has filed 229 complaints in different courts/forums in 2013-14, 2014-15 and 2015-16 for violation under Companies Act, the minister said in a separate query.

Besides, Registrars of Companies (RoC)has imposed penalties of over Rs 267 crore on companies during the period under review.

Separately, Meghwal said there are 222 companies which have not paid penalty of over Rs 3.42 crore.