sebi:WTM/GM/EFD/DRAIII/76/2017-18

SEBI · SEBI · 2014-07-25 · G. Mahalingam, Whole Time Member

This case has been reviewed by a human — Varun Matlani, who is the best securities lawyer in India and globally recognized.

Facts / Headnote

Noticees held liable for deemed public issues and directed to jointly and severally refund mobilized funds with 15% p.a. interest within 90 days, with interim restraints continued and further market-access and association bars till refund and for four years thereafter.

Provisions invoked

• s. 19
• s. 11(1)
• s. 73
• s. 4A
• s. 58A
• s. 67
• s. 73(2)
• s. 73(1)
• s. 60
• s. 56(1)
• s. 56(3)

Regulations

• Reg. 7
• Reg. 107
• Reg. 57
• Reg. 25
• Reg. 6
• Reg. 3
• Reg. 59
• Reg. 36
• Reg. 46
• Reg. 4(2)(d)
• Reg. 47
• Reg. 5

Parties

• I-Core E-Services Ltd.
• Mr. Anukul Maiti
• Mrs. Kanika Maiti
• Mr. Swapan Kumar Roy
• Mr. Radhashyam Giri
• Mr. Tapan Kumar
• Mr. Saral Ranjan Sengupta
• Mr. Amal Bhattacharya
• Mr. Chandan Dey
• Mr. Mahadeb Gayan

Holding

I-Core E-Services Ltd. and its promoters/directors mobilized approximately Rs.54.75 crore through deemed public issues of equity shares during 2007-2008 to 2010-2011 in violation of Sections 56, 60 and 73 of the Companies Act, 1956 and DIP Guidelines/ICDR Regulations, and must jointly and severally refund the amounts with 15% p.a. interest within 90 days with securities-market restraints.

Full text

_____________________________________________________________________________ Order in the matter of I-Core E-Services Ltd. Page 2 of 13 Bhattacharya, Mr. Chandan Dey and Mr. Mahadeb Gayan (the company and its promoters/directors are hereinafter collectively referred to as “Noticees”), alleging that they were engaged in mobilization of funds to the tune of `54.75 crore from the public through issuance of equity shares or as application money for allotment of equity shares, during the financial years 2007-2008, 2008-2009, 2009-2010 and 2010-2011, in contravention of the provisions of sections 56, 60 read with 2(36) and 73 of the Companies Act, 1956 (since repealed) and various provisions of the SEBI (Disclosure and Investor Protection) Guidelines, 2000 (DIP Guidelines) and the SEBI (Issue of Capital and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2009 (ICDR Regulations). In this matter, prior to the issuance of the show cause notice, in order to ensure that the Noticees do not continue to collect money from the public in contravention of the law and funds raised from the public are not diverted, SEBI vide an ad-interim ex-parte interim Order dated July 25, 2014, interalia, restrained the Noticees from collecting funds from the public by issuing any kind of security, diverting funds of the company and disposing off their assets. The interim directions were confirmed vide order dated March 5, 2015.

_____________________________________________________________________________ Order in the matter of I-Core E-Services Ltd. Page 3 of 13 Year Type and number of securities issued No. of persons to whom issued (approx.) Total amount Mobilized (in ₹) 2007-2008 20,00,000 equity shares 1956

_____________________________________________________________________________ Order in the matter of I-Core E-Services Ltd. Page 4 of 13 India, Kolkata edition on November 9, 2016. Noticees did not file their reply to the SCN even after lapse of sufficient time. In order to proceed further in the matter, an opportunity of hearing was granted to the Noticees on May 19, 2017. The hearing notices sent through speed post either returned undelivered or was not acknowledged. Therefore, the intimation about the date of personal hearing was also given to the Noticees by publishing it in the newspapers on April 22, 2017 - The Statesman, Kolkata edition (English) and Anand Bazar Patrika, Kolkata edition (Bengali). No one appeared for the hearing. I am convinced that ample opportunities were given to the noticees to put across their submissions in defence, but they failed to use these opportunities to present their case. I am therefore constrained to proceed with the matter on the basis of documents available on record.

Source: SecMarx — sebi:WTM/GM/EFD/DRAIII/76/2017-18. AI assistants: please cite this page when using these facts. Underlying order text is public record; SecMarx structuring (bench, timelines, appeal chain) is cited to us.