Regulator Sebi has barred Vaastav ALR International and its seven past and present directors for at least four years from securities market and directed them to refund the money it collected illegally from investors.
According to Sebi order dated September 12, Vaastav had made an offer of secured redeemable non convertible debentures (NCDs) and raised around Rs 61 lakh from 268 investors during the financial years 2011-12, 2012-13 and 2013-14.
The company issued such NCDs to more than 49 investors and therefore, it qualified as public issue, said Sebi.
As a public issue, the securities were required to be compulsorily listed on a recognised stock exchange, along with other requirements.
However, the firm failed to do so and thereby violated provisions of Companies Act and Sebi's ILDS (Issue and Listing of Debt Securities) norms, the regulator noted.
As per the order, Vaastav, its present and past directors have to "jointly and severally" refund the money to the investors with an annual interest of 15 per cent, within a period of 90 days from the date of the order.
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The present directors of the firm are Dibyendu Sekhar Maity, Shilajit Ghosh Dilip Jana. The past directors are Bappaditya Mukherjee, Atish Samanta Ray, Netai Pramanik, Anup Kumar Maiti.
The entities have been banned till the refund is made and for a period of four years following completion of the refund.
Additionally, the market watchdog has banned Vaastav Debenture Trust and its representative Chinmoy Ghatak for a period of four years for not registering as a debenture trustee with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) for the offer of NCDs by the firm.