SEBI bans Austral Coke, 4 individuals from securities market for 6 months

6 Dec 2022 , 08:57 AM

In a case involving diverting the company’s IPO proceeds to a promoter group firm, SEBI on Monday banned Austral Coke and Projects Ltd (formerly known as Greenearth Resources and Projects Ltd) and four other individuals from the securities market for six months.

Additionally, a SEBI ruling instructs the company to take the necessary steps to return Rs29.42 crore of the IPO (initial public offering) profits within a year.

The corporation has instructed the current directors to take the necessary actions to comply with this directive.

In addition to Austral Coke, Ratan Lal Tamakhuwala, Rishi Raj Agarwal, S K Chowdhary, and Rajendra Kumar Khaitan are also blacklisted by Sebi.

It was claimed that the company’s depiction of the use of funds in its quarterly reports submitted in accordance with the former listing agreement for the three quarters that ended September 30 and December 31, 2008, were inaccurate.

Additionally, it was claimed that Anarcon, a promoter group firm, received a portion of the IPO revenues.

Ajit Kumar Jindal’s influence over six firms resulted in the transfer of Rs52.08 crore from the IPO funds for the supply and construction of the LAM Coke Plant, of which Rs29.42 crore was given to Anarcon Resources Pvt Ltd, a promoter group entity of Austral Coke.

The fact that Anarcon ultimately received Rs29.42 crore of the IPO proceeds further proves that a significant portion of the money was siphoned off, it continued.

Austral Coke has broken the PFUTP (Prohibition of Fraudulent and Unfair Trade Practices) regulations by engaging in these actions.

In August 2008, Austral Coke launched its initial public offering. The company’s shares are traded on the BSE and NSE.

Investor complaints and references from the Income Tax Department had already been sent to SEBI, notifying the regulator that the company’s books of accounts had been falsified and that various assertions in the prospectus had been fabricated with the goal to deceive investors.

These false comments concerned the coke production capability of the company and the promoters’ separation from Gujarat NRE Coke Limited.

Austral Coke was issued an interim injunction in September 2009 that forbade it from obtaining any additional funds in any way, whether directly or indirectly, until further instructions.

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