The Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) is looking into the reasons behind a sizeable number of investors not coming forward to claim their invested money in the Sahara Group of Companies, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Monday.
Replying to a question in the Lok Sabha, Sitharaman said the entire affairs of the Sahara Group are being monitored by the Supreme Court and the government is acting according to the court’s directives. According to a 2022 Supreme Court order, a total of 3.07 crore people had invested about 27,000 crore in the Sahara Group of Companies whose cases come under the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi).So far, 19,650 people have come forward to claim the refunds. Of them, the claims of 17,256 have been settled and the rest have been asked to provide more papers in support of their demands. As a result,138.07 crore could be given to the claimants so far, she said.
“The SFIO is going into a detailed analysis of this. We hope that at the end of it more legitimate claimants come forward and we can give the money,” she said during the Question Hour. The minister said action can be taken after the detailed analysis by the SFIO.
“I want to dispel this thought that the government of India is not doing anything. We are constantly reporting to the Supreme Court. Three 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 said.
Most of the small depositors’ money has been cleared because their documents were clean as per the three separate standard operating procedures, she said. She said three advertisements were issued appealing to the Sahara investors to come forward to claim refunds.
The probe into the affairs of three Sahara companies were handed over to the SFIO on October 31, 2018. The companies are Sahara Housing Investment Corporation, Sahara Q Shop Unique Products Range, and Sahara Q Gold Mart.Further, investigations were ordered against six other group companies on October 27, 2020.