Channel Promoter Under Govt Probe

News Express, the Hindi news channel that carried out what it said was a sting operation on opinion pollsters, is promoted by a group with a chequered record. Floated by the Sai Prasad Group of Pune, the channel has been relaunched with a logo in red and blue and a dual tag line — We Report to You/Fikar Aapki.

Promoted by Balasaheb Bhapkar and son Shashank Bhapkar, the Sai Prasad Group is being investigated by almost half a dozen agencies including the ministry of corporate affairs (MCA), the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the economic offences wing (EOW) of the Goa police for alleged financial irregularities, including illegal raising of funds.

The group, which has interests in real estate, infrastructure, energy, food and films, is said to have collected funds from small investors under several schemes such as monthly installment plans and one-time payment plans in violation of Sebi rules.

In July last year, market regulator Sebi banned Balasaheb K Bhapkar, Vandana B Bhapkar and Shashank B Bhapkar besides Sai Prasad Foods and Sai Prasad Properties from collecting money from the public, launching new schemes, disposing of property and diverting funds after finding them running a collective investment scheme by offering plans through joint ventures.

Sai Prasad Properties, in its submission to Sebi, revealed that there were a total 13.5 lakh customers, of which 2.34 lakh were on the onetime payment plan and 11.15 lakh on the installment plan.

Investigations into companies belonging to the group were started by the ministry of company affairs and RBI after complaints in 2011. In August 2012, the Registrar of Companies (RoC), Goa, informed the market regulator about violations of the Collective Investment Schemes Regulations under the Sebi Act.

Sai Prasad followed a hierarchy of agents involving 10 levels for the purpose of getting business, rising from field representatives to a chief controller.

The company also used to give commissions to those higher on the chain against business brought in by those lower down against the booking of plots.
Courtesy:
OUR BUREAU MUMBAI
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/31015247.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

Ex-director of fraud firm surrenders

MUMBAI: Former director of fraud firm Aryarup Travel and Club Resort surrendered before the Pune police last week. Vasuda Deshmukh, who is wanted in the multi-crore investment scam, will be brought to the city this week.

Nandkishore Patil from Nigadi police station in Pune said, "We have arrested Vasuda for a year-old fraud case. She is being questioned."

The city economic offences wing (EOW) had registered an FIR against Vasuda and her husband Ravindra in 2010. The Deshmukhs floated several schemes in Gujarat, Haryana, Jaipur, Bangalore and Maharashtra. Investors were promised annual returns of 86% to 96% if they put in Rs 5,000 and more in the schemes. Investors who brought in others were entitled to additional returns. The company had opened accounts of its investors on its website. "The suspects allotted login names and passwords to the investors and told them that their profit would be automatically transferred to their accounts. The Mumbai police are investigating the case under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Prize Chits and Money Circulation Schemes (Banning) Act, 1978," said a police officer.

The EOW had recently issued lookout notices against Vasuda and Ravindra. Sources said the firm's turnover was in excess of Rs 1,000 crore per annum. Aryarup claimed on various websites that it distributed over Rs 900 crore to its investors in one year. The firm also said that 400 of its investors had earned over Rs one crore.

Two plots, totaling 75 acres, owned by the company directors were attached by the EOW in February this year.

The total value of these plots is around Rs 12.30 crore, said sources. Besides, 17 bank accounts in which investors had deposited Rs 12.5 crore have also been frozen.

The firm had branches in Haryana, Gujarat and other states. In Maharashtra, the firm set up its offices in Buldhana Nashik, Nanded, Solapur, Parbhani, Jaipur, Thane, Navi Mumbai, Mumbai, Jalgaon, Bhusawal, Pune and Latur, among others. Sources said Aryarup could have more than one lakh investors

Daniel Pranjal, chief of direct selling consultancy firm Strategy India, said, "Several individuals start such companies promising high returns with the knowledge that they would have to keep getting money from new investors to pay off the old ones."

Pranjal said there are over 300 such companies operating in India and the schemes would have mobilized over Rs 7,000 crore till date.

Directors of Aryarup Travel & Club Resort—Ravindra Deshmukh and his wife Vasuda—are accused of duping over 1,000 people by offering to double their investments.
Courtesy:
Mateen Hafeez, TNN Aug 29, 2011, 03.27am IST
http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-08-29/mumbai/29941037_1_investors-fraud-firm-bank-accounts

Wiki: Fernandes sought CIA funds

New Delhi: Diplomatic cables released on Monday by Wikileaks claimed that senior JD-U leader and former convenor of NDA, George Fernandes sought funds from the Central Intelligence Agency during the Emergency and asked French labour attache Manfred Turlach to suggest CIA contacts.

The US labour counsellor was also approached by a Fernandes acquaintance to arrange a meeting between him and the US ambassador, the cables said in a revelation that suggests the socialist leader was ready to forego his political allergy of the US to seek monetary assistance to fight the Indira regime.

In his conversations with Turlach, Fernandes is shown claiming that he had a band of 300 people involved in sabotage activities liking blowing up railway bridges in the south and a bridge between Mumbai and Pune besides setting Mumbai dock and the LIC building in Chennai on fire. One cable showed Fernandes stating in November 1975 that “he was even prepared to accept money from the USA”.

Fernandes, who is suffering from Alzheimer’s, couldn’t be contacted. The socialist leader, who burst into the national spotlight after be brought the country to a halt by a railway strike, was not perceived to be friendly to the US. He shut down the operations of Coca Cola and IBM when he was industry minister. However, his animus towards the Congress, especially during the Emergency, may have pushed him to take extreme measures, including seeking US assistance.

A trade union colleague of Fernandes said, “In the battle between means and end, he has rarely let means come in the way of end. It does not surprise me that George sought CIA help and as a minister in the Janata government, threw Coca Cola and IBM out of the country.”
Courtesy:
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=TOINEW&BaseHref=TOIM/2013/04/09&PageLabel=13&EntityId=Ar01302&ViewMode=HTML

Sai Prasad Group's activities under multi-agency probe

MCA, Sebi, RBI and EOW probing violations firm says it has replied to notices

Pune-based Sai Prasad Group, which has interests in real estate, food and films, is being probed for alleged financial irregularities, including illegal raising of funds. The probe was initiated by the ministry of corporate affairs ( MCA) about two years ago, after it received complaints from investors based in Raipur. Now, the Securities and Exchange Board of India ( Sebi), the Reserve Bank of India ( RBI) and the economic offences wing (EOW) of the Goa police are also involved in the investigations.

The Sai Prasad Group, promoted by Balasaheb Bhapkar and his son, Shashank Bhapkar, has seen good growth in less than a decade. Among its assets, it lists several hundreds of acres of agriculture farms in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. The group also has offices in Goa and Uttar Pradesh. Last year, the Bhapkars also ventured into tinsel town, producing the film Chhodo Kal Ki Batein.

The funds for these ventures, however, are collected in an unauthorised manner from small investors who are promised attractive returns. The money is collected under several plans such as monthly installment plans and one-time plans. Several ‘advisers’ and ‘zonal’ and ‘regional’ officers, who together took up to 40 per cent of the amount collected as commission, helped the group collect the funds, investigations by Business Standard showed.

In a report in October, an investigation officer of the Goa police's economic offences cell said though Sai Prasad Properties had its registered office in Goa, the operations were being managed from Pune. "The Goa office is managed by an office assistant and an employee. The company is inviting investment in property and promising high returns. There is no allotment of property in the investment plan," the report said, adding the company hadn’t shown any property for the current investment scheme in Goa. “The investment plans of the company will start maturing after two to three years and a problem of repayment might arise,” it said.

The report was accessed under the Right to Information (RTI) Act by Mumbai-based RTI activist Bhupendra Singh.

According to the group’s website, currently, the group is spread across about 100 cities and accounts for 131 branches and 1,500 employees. It has about 600,000 advisers serving about 1,100,000 customers and associates. “The ultimate goal of Sai Prasad Group of Companies is to provide customer satisfaction and customer delight with diligence, sincerity and commitment, which is based on the principle of joint participation and expectations of customers,” the website says.

Shashank Bhapkar, managing director of the group, did not respond to calls and an email seeking comments. Group Chief Executive Officer Sanjay Roy said, “We have responded to all notices from the RoC (Registrar of Companies). If there are investigations, you have to ask the people conducting the investigations.” He declined to share further details on the group.

Sources in the RoC, however, confirmed the company hadn’t given satisfactory responses to many of the questions raised in show-cause notices. They added the registrar was in the process of initiating criminal prosecution proceedings against the directors and senior officials of the group.

The MCA and RBI have been receiving complaints on the group’s activities since 2010-11. RBI had written to the Goa police’s economic offences cell, saying the company wasn’t registered as a non-banking financial company and, therefore, wasn’t authorised to raise deposits from the public.

The MCA had directed its regional director for the western region (based in Mumbai) to inspect the books of Sai Prasad Properties and Sai Prasad Foods under Section 209. The inspection report alleged several violations, including diversion of funds, manipulation of records and non-compliance with provisions under the Income Tax Act, the Banking Regulation Act, etc. It also alleged several violations of the provisions of the Companies Act.

In August 2012, the RoC, Goa, had written to the Sebi chairman, intimating violation of Collective Investment Schemes Regulations under the Sebi Act. Officials said Sebi had issued a show-cause notice to this effect and was investigating the matter.

UNDER THE SCANNER

• Funds for group ventures are collected from small investors who are promised attractive returns
• The money is collected under several plans such as monthly installment plans and one-time plans
• 'Advisers' and 'zonal' and 'regional' officers together take up to 40% of the amount collected as commission
• Goa police's economic offences cell said though Sai Prasad Properties had its registered office in Goa, operations were being managed from Pune
• RBI said the company wasn't registered as an NBFC and, therefore, wasn't authorised to raise deposits from the public.

Courtesy:

N Sundaresha Subramanian / New Delhi Jan 25, 2013, 00:29 IST
http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/sai-prasad-groups-activities-under-multi-agency-probe/499897/

Scam in Making: ‘Worst drought in 50 yrs’ looms, CM talks tough

Pune: As the state gears up to face one of its worst droughts in recent history, chief minister Prithviraj Chavan on Saturday announced “unprecedented and stringent” steps to curb wastage of drinking water and its usage for purposes other than drinking.

“Major parts of the state, including the Pune region, Marathwada and parts of Vidarbha, have been facing a major water crisis, and the situation is likely to worsen. This is the first time there is not enough water even for even drinking. We have to take unprecedented and stringent decisions which no government has taken earlier. And even then, I am not sure it will be enough. The situation is serious and we have to look for answers,” the chief minister said, speaking near Pune.

Echoing Chavan, Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar said, “I have not seen such a serious water crisis in the last 50 years. We have seen droughts in the past too, but this is the first time that even drinking water is not available.” The NCP boss stated that although by next week, the Centre would approve Rs 770 crore for the state, the situation was bad and people should curb excess use of water.

State seeks 2,200cr to refill reservoirs
Pune: Chief minister Prithviraj Chavan, speaking at a combined annual general body meeting of the Maharashtra State Co-operative Sugar Factories Federation Limited and the Vasantdada Sugar Institute at Manjari near Pune, warned of a major water crisis ahead for the state. Chavan said the state was ready with a mechanism to supply water to drought-affected areas, but the system itself would not be of help as there was no water to provide.

“The water level in the Ujani dam is zero. Imagine what the situation will be if we are not able to provide drinking water to drought-affected areas. The state has sought Rs 2,200 crore from the central government to refill water reservoirs,” he said, adding that if the additional funds fail to come from the Centre, the state would have to divert funds meant for other works.

Meanwhile, CM Prithviraj Chavan said the state was planning to ban flood irrigation system and encourage drip irrigation. “Excess water is used for crops, especially sugarcane, through the flood irrigation system. We can save water by using drip irrigation. We need to ban flood irrigation and encourage drip irrigation,” he said, adding that the state plans to focus on grants only for drip irrigation. “
Courtesy:
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=TOINEW&BaseHref=TOIM/2013/01/06&PageLabel=1&EntityId=Ar00106&ViewMode=HTML