PACL case: Sebi asks investors to submit original documents

New Delhi: A high-powered Sebi committee has asked investors in PACL group’s illegal schemes with claims of up to Rs19,000 to produce original documents by October 31 to receive refunds.

The panel has asked only those investors whose applications have been successfully verified to submit their original certificates. The committee, headed by former Chief Justice of India RM Lodha, is overseeing the process of disposing of properties to refund investors after verifying their genuineness. It has already initiated the process of refund in phases. The panel was set up by Sebi in 2016 following a Supreme Court order. The committee has decided to call for original PACL registration certificates from eligible investors with claims between Rs17,001 and Rs19,000, whose applications have been successfully verified, according to a statement published on Sebi’s website on Monday.

Accordingly, intimation through SMS will be sent to all eligible investors, requiring them to submit original PACL registration certificates. “The window for accepting original certificates shall remain open from October 1, 2023, to October 31, 2023,” the statement noted. Further, investors have been cautioned against parting with their original PACL registration certificates unless an SMS is received from the committee. PACL, also known as Pearl Group, 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 Rs60,000 crore through illegal collective investment schemes (CIS) over a period of 18 years.

In December 2015, Sebi ordered the attachment of all assets of PACL and its promoters and directors for their failure to refund the money due to investors. Sebi had asked PACL as well as its promoters and directors to refund the money in an order passed in August 2014.