The ministry of corporate affairs has ordered investigations into the affairs of more than 150 companies for alleged fraudulent activities in the last three years till June 2014, Parliament was informed on Friday. According to a written reply submitted by corporate affairs minister Arun Jaitley, the ministry ordered probes against 152 companies for allegedly indulging in fraudulent/illegal activities.
“Of these, 64 investigations have been completed and reports submitted to the ministry while in two cases, investigations have been stayed by the courts,” Jaitley said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha.
However, specific details were not disclosed.
With respect to investigations that have been completed, the ministry ordered filing of prosecutions against companies/directors/officers in default on account of various offences.
To prevent instances of fraudulent activities, the ministry has initiated various measures, including setting up of a market research and analysis unit in the Serious Fraud Investigation Office.
The research unit analyses media reports relating to financial fraud and conducts market surveillance of such corporates.
Besides, an ‘Early Warning System’ is being developed to generate alerts for analysis and early detection of potential fraud, the minister said in the reply.
