The corporate affairs ministry has ordered SFIO probe against 208 companies for alleged fraud in the first 11 months of the current financial year, Union Minister P P Chaudhary said today.
The Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) -- white collar crime probe agency-- comes under the corporate affairs ministry.
Till February this year, the corporate affairs ministry has ordered investigations through SFIO into the affairs of 208 firms, the minister of state for corporate affairs said in a written reply to Lok Sabha.
In comparison, a total of 111 companies were under the scanner of SFIO in the entire 2016-17, 184 in 2015-16 and 71 in 2014-15.
The SFIO continues to grapple with staff crunch with half of the sanctioned posts remaining vacant.
It has a total of 133 sanctioned positions. Out of these, only 66 positions are filled while the rest are vacant. In additional a total of 35 experts of various fields are presently engaged as consultants, Chaudhary said.
The agency is a multidisciplinary organisation having experts for prosecution of white collar crimes and frauds under the companies law.
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