SEBI Cautions PACL Investors Against Fake Emails
Investors were requested not to be misguided or fall in trap of any inducements and false promises.
Cautioning the investors of PACL Ltd., the Securities and Exchange Board of India said it has neither authorised any person nor issued any authority letter for refund related matters.
SEBI in a press release said that the committee headed by retired Justice RM Lodha received complaints from investors of PACL that they are receiving emails from sebi.pacl@sebirefunds.org requesting them to file application forms for claiming a refund.
Further, the emails include authority letter, purportedly issued by SEBI, in favour of Ravi Shankar, IAS, designating him for the refund-related matters.
In this regard, SEBI said "this is to inform that the Committee/SEBI has neither authorized/designated such person for refund related matters nor issued such authority letter".
It added that the email does not pertain to the committee or SEBI.
"The investors are advised to be cautious and not to act on such communications, if any, received by them. Investors are also requested not to be misguided or fall in the trap of any such inducements and false promises," the regulator said.
The information about the refund to investors of PACL is being made available on the SEBI website (www.sebi.gov.in) on a regular basis, it added.
PACL, which had raised money from the public in the name of agriculture and real estate businesses, was found by SEBI to have collected more than Rs 60,000 crore through illegal collective investment schemes over a period of 18 years.
A panel headed by retired Justice RM Lodha had initiated the process of refunds for PACL investors having claim amount up to Rs 5,000 and till date over 3.81 lakh such investors have been paid.
In December 2015, SEBI had ordered attachment of all assets of PACL and its nine promoters and directors for their failure to refund the money due to investors.
SEBI had asked PACL as also its promoters and directors to refund the money in an order dated Aug. 22, 2014. The defaulters were directed to wind up the schemes and refund money to the investors within three months from the date of the order.