BAFIL case: Sebi asks investors to immediately submit original documents for refund claims

Sebi on Thursday asked investors who have invested in the unauthorised investment collective scheme floated by Blessing Agro Farm India Ltd (BAFIL) to immediately submit original documents in order to process their refund claims.

Blessing Agro Farm collected Rs 84.30 crore from over 1.3 lakh investors and it claimed to have paid back around Rs 10.41 crore to nearly 13,000 investors.

Now, the outstanding amount is Rs 74 crore, as per the regulator's order.

In November 2019, Sebi had advised investors who had invested in the scheme floated by the company to submit their claims along with the original proof of investment to the administrator B Sathrukkanan.

The watchdog had also asked investors to submit their refund applications by February 29, 2020.

In a notice issued on Thursday, Sebi asked investors to submit all the original paid receipts available with them immediately without further delay in case they have not yet submitted them.

Claim amounts will be processed only after the submission of the original proof of investment to the administrator. In the absence of the same, claim form will be bound to be withheld and subsequently rejected, as per Sebi.

"Any investor of BAFIL who had submitted the claim form but missed/ not submitted, partly/ fully, any original paid receipts available with him/ her may submit those available original paid receipts to the Sebi appointed administrator B Sathrukkanan, at his Coimbatore address at the earliest for processing the claim," Sebi said.

As of August 31, more than 5,400 investors have submitted their claim forms.

Sebi, through the administrator, is in the process of undertaking valuation and auctioning of the attached properties of BAFIL and the same has been delayed due to the lockdown situation owing to the Covid-19, according to the notice.

Besides, Sebi said the company and its directors are not cooperating either with it or the administrator in the matter and were not providing the requisite documents as sought for.

The regulator also noted that it will endeavour to complete the refund process within six months, subject to recovery of money.