SC and Sebi are doing splendid work; let Sahara produce the ghosts

The Sahara refund account that grew to Rs 11,727 crore but refunds showing a pittance at Rs 55 crore as per Sebi’s financial statements for 2015-16 has been given a spin by Sahara– -it vindicates its position that almost every debenture holder who earlier was a depositor has been paid off. Really? The truth is from day one (2012), Sahara has been fighting shy off bringing its ghost investors out in the open because some of them, it apprehends, might sing like a canary and blurt out the names of real owners. The benamis and money launderers have an informal code of omerta practiced by the Sicilian mafia. Therefore while the intrepid amongst them might not spill the beans but the weak ones might. [caption id=“attachment_2753034” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Reuters[/caption] It is this fear that must be gnawing at Sahara and its wily promoter Subrato Roy who unabashedly is now doing a victory lap– -aabaar yatra– - across the country to acknowledge the support he has received from his charmed circle of crooks and the devious. It has not occurred to him that he is only on parole and has not been acquitted. Be that as it may. The Supreme Court and the Sebi deserve to be complimented for applying the squeeze on Sahara though the ordeal could have been alternatively brought to an end by simply appointing a receiver for the group. Perhaps the SC wants Roy to stew in his own juice. It is not sadism but a battle of attrition in which Roy is bound to end up a loser. If he and Sahara are really innocent and not nation’s money launderers, as perceived by people in the know, what prevents them from parading the so-called investors? That there are upwards of 3 million investors (ghosts?) is hardly a mitigating circumstance warranting a reprieve from this arduous task. Let Sahara hire a hall or some other public place where its investors are concentrated. Let them assemble there like shareholders do in AGMs except that in Sahara’s case such meetings may have to be held in several towns and cities at different points of time. Let the expenses be borne by Sahara. For those unable or unwilling to make it to these meetings, let there be an alternative drill– -let them send in their documentary proofs about investments and redemption. Sahara has sent truckloads of documents from its end to the Sebi but these are unverifiable mountains of verbiage. The best proof is supplied by the investor like acknowledgement from sundry debtors and bankers an auditor takes for receivables and deposits respectively. Acknowledgement from the source is the real proof. Sahara will never take these steps for the fear of its true colors emerging. Indeed the onus is on Sahara to vindicate its stand that it is innocent. It is no use piling the Sebi with documents even if the documents contain bank details about repayments because it is not difficult for these 3 million investors to withdraw the money and hand them back to Sahara for onward transmission to the real owners lurking behind. Swiss banks’ mainstay is their secretiveness. Sahara’s too is to hide the names of real owners of black money. It practices omerta and persuades its benamis to similarly practice the Sicilian law but is not sure whether all of them would adhere to it, come what may. A money launderer’s hard work would come to a naught if a weak-kneed benami sings like a canary. That would not only send a wrong signal to other benamis but might have the effect of supplying leads to the Sebi and other authorities about the modus operandi of the crooks and their protectors. This is a superb case study on SC monitored investigation on economic offences.