Aug 10, 2017 05:09 PM
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I came to know that one rama rao mob;9000822558 has got his money back. He has promised to guide anyone who may approach him. I came to know that one rama rao mob;9000822558 has got his money back. He has promised to guide anyone who may approach him. Company assets with investigating authorities to be transferred to Official Liquidator.
The Bombay High Court has directed all the assets belonging to City Limouzines and City Realcom, seized by Economic Offences Wing, Enforcement Directorate and the State’s Competent Authority, to be transferred to the Official Liquidator appointed by HC.
In a landmark judgement that clears the conflict between the investigating authorities’ powers to deal with the assets of a company and a winding up petition that is filed in the court regarding the same company, the court has set a precedent for other cases that once a winding up order is passed, all the assets belonging to the said company will be transferred to the liquidator and the procedure under the Companies Act, 1956 would take over. This order, however, will not apply to any assets owned by Directors of a company personally.
The HC had passed the winding up orders against City Limouzines on December 3, 2010 and City Realcom on March 9, 2012. The liquidator, however, was unable to take over the assets belonging to the company as the criminal cases were lodged prior to the HC order and the investigating agencies had already taken over substantial assets of the companies.
In 2007 and 2009, the Economic Offences Wing had registered two cases against the two City Group companies for allegedly duping over 70, 000 people across the country by promising unrealistic returns on their investments. During the probe, EOW had arrested seven persons, including the firm’s chairman, Sayed Masood.
Among the assets that Justice Dhanuka has directed the agencies to pass on to the liquidator are – Rs 60 lakh deposited by the accused directors of the company while being let out on bail, all the properties and bank accounts, City Limouzines’ Nariman point office, and all the original documents seized from various locations by the EOW of Mumbai police. The EOW has been allowed to retain a photocopy of the documents seized by it for its case.
As per one of the affidavits filed by the EOW before the HC, the total worth of properties seized by the agency amounted to Rs 191 crore. This included 27 immovable properties of which four were held in the name of the two companies, while remaining 23 were in the personal names of the directors of the companies. The EOW had also seized 57 bank accounts of which 11 belonged to City Limouzines and 10 to City Realcom.
The judgement was based on the conflict between the interest of the depositors who were duped by a company and that of its workers, government agencies and other secured and unsecured creditors. Advocate Naushad Engineer, appearing for the liquidator in one of the reports filed by him, argued that provisions of Maharashtra Protection of Interest of Depositors Act(MPID) could not supersede the provision of the Companies act, and that MPID took care of interests of only the depositors and not the other creditors of the company.
The court has directed the liquidator to adjudicate the claims of the unpaid investors based on the Companies Act as well.
