SFIO probe into Sahara group of companies underway: FM Sitharaman

The Serious Fraud Investigation Office SFIO is carrying out a detailed probe into the matter related to the Sahara group of companies and it is also looking into the reason behind a sizeable number of investors not coming forward to claim the invested money in the company Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharamansaid in Lok Sabha on MondaySitharaman also said the entire affairs of the Sahara group are being monitored by the Supreme Court and the government is acting according to the directives of the apex courtIt is true that only small investors have come forward to claim the refunds The SFIO is investigating the entire matter It is also looking into why all the investors have not come forward to claim the refunds and where are theyThe SFIO is going into a detailed analysis of this We hope that at the end of it more legitimate claimants come and we can give the money she said during Question HourThe minister said the whole picture will be clear and action can be taken after the detailed analysis of the SFIOI want to dispel this thought that the government of India is not doing anything We are constantly reporting to the Supreme CourtThree panels of retired judges of the Supreme Court are monitoring us They are approving every claim Let no one doubt the intent and interests of the central government which is doing its best she saidShe said three committees of judges are looking into each of the claim related to the Sahara group of companiesMost of the small depositors money has been cleared because their documents are clean as per the three separate standard operating procedures she saidSitharaman said according to a 2022 Supreme Court order a total of 307 crore people had invested about Rs 27000 crore in the Sahara group of companies whose cases come under the Securities and Exchange Board of India SEBIShe said three advertisements were issued appealing the Sahara investors to come forward to claim refundSo far 19650 people have come forward to claim the refunds Of these 17256 claims were settled while rest of the applicants were told to provide more papers so that their claims can also be settled As a result so far Rs 13807 crore could be given to the claimants she saidSitharaman said the central government cannot do anything on the matters of Sahara group of companies even if it wants to as everything is monitored by the Supreme CourtWe are constantly reporting to the Supreme Court she saidAccording to the data provided by the Finance Ministry to Parliament in December 2023 probes into the affairs of three Sahara group of companies were handed over to the SFIO on October 31 2018The companies are Sahara Housing Investment Corporation Ltd Sahara Q Shop Unique Products Range Ltd and Sahara Q Gold Mart LtdFurther investigations were ordered against six other group of companies on October 27 2020The minister said there are some cases which come under the regulator SEBI while some are dealt by the Ministry of CooperationSo I want to make it clear that everything is monitored by the Supreme Court she saidShe said those which come under the SEBI are three entities Sahara India Real Estate Cooperation Sahara Housing Investment Cooperation Ltd and Sahara India CommercialSitharaman said in the SEBIrelated three cases 18 properties of Sahara were attached and if the properties are auctioned the money will go to the pool to be distributedShe said after the creation of the Ministry of Cooperation in 2021 the government had approached the Supreme Court which gave an order that some amount which is sitting with the SEBI can be given to the Ministry of Cooperation which can then be distributed to cooperatives related entities These cooperatives were founded by the SaharaThe minister said the total amount invested in these four cooperatives is Rs 86673 crore and Justice Subhash Reddyled panel is looking into the matters related to the four cooperatives of the SaharaThere were 121 crore investors in these cooperatives and so far Rs 378 crore could be released after scrutiny of 43 lakh depositors Among them are 127 lakh depositors whose claims are upto Rs 10000 she saidSitharaman said another Saharalinked entity is Pearl Agro Cooperation Ltd where an estimated amount of Rs 49000 crore was invested by 58 crore investorsIn this case she said the number of claimants is 15 crore and online process is going on for disbursement of refunds to all those who have made the claimRefunds of Rs 1021 crore have been given to 208 lakh claimants upto Rs 19000 each A total of 28 lakh investors have made the claims she saidThe minister said another Supreme Courtappointed panel is looking into this matter and reporting to the courtWe would like more claimants to come There is a portal created by the Ministry of Cooperation Please put your names for those four cooperatives of the Sahara for refunds she saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its 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