Affiliated properties include parcels of land, land, office space and an apartment in West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh, according to an issued Reclamation Notice
Affiliated properties include parcels of land, land, office space and an apartment in West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh, according to an issued Reclamation Notice
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has seized up to 14 properties linked to Greentouch Projects and its four directors in an illegal fundraising case in a bid to recover £56m from investors. The attached properties include land, land, office space and a dwelling in West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh, as revealed in an April 25
Recovery proceedings have been launched against Greentouch Projects and its four directors – Shyam Sundar Dey, Snehasish Sarkar, Sujoy Sinha and Sumon Sarkar – for failing to repay £56million which the company issued to 20,549 people through non-convertible redeemable bonds has accumulated without complying with public issuance standards set under the Companies Act and SEBI’s ILDS (Issue and Listing of Debt Securities) rules.
However, the company had claimed to have already repaid over £12.24million to its investors. Because the shares were issued by the company to more than 50 people, they qualified as a public offering, which requires, among other things, listing on a recognized stock exchange.
According to the notice, regulators learned that the company and its directors owned 14 properties and felt they could sell the assets to hamper or delay the recovery process, which could be prevented immediately by garnishing those assets got to.
Consequently, the regulator has impounded these assets and banned the companies from selling, transferring or disposing of these assets. The regulator has prohibited the affected entities “from taking advantage of any such disposal, transfer, disposal or encumbrance with respect to the properties attached to the enforcement of the Certificate of Reclamation”.
They were also instructed to provide full details of all movable and immovable property they owned and any charges in a prescribed format, together with the original title deeds, within two weeks.
As part of the recovery process, SEBI seized the bank accounts of these companies in October 2019. However, they didn’t pay any fees and didn’t even respond to the regulator’s reminder. The regulator found that the funds available in the bank accounts and the securities available in the debtors’ Demat accounts were insufficient to collect the fees.
In December 2015, SEBI had ordered Greentouch Projects and its four directors to return investors’ money, along with interest, that it had illegally raised through the issuance of securities. These companies were also excluded from the securities market.
