Repayments done from money with group companies: Sahara

NEW DELHI: Hours after the Supreme Court asked it to disclose the source of its money, the Sahara Group today said the money collected through optionally fully- convertible debentures (OFCD) were invested in various assets and the group companies made the money available when the need arose for making repayments to the investors.

The group's statement, which came after the apex court asked the company to disclose the source of money to the tune of Rs 25,000 crore that was arranged, said, "it is relevant to mention that Sahara operates from around 5000 branches across the country and all the payments were made through those branches only.

"It is this pan-India network of Sahara's branches, which made the company to refund money."

The group, through its lawyer, further said that all the documents pertaining to these repayments have been handed over to SEBI in original, along with the original bond certificates surrendered by the investors.

It said that all the documents pertaining to the payments made to the investors have already been placed before the apex court.

"Since the majority of the investors of Sahara do not have the bank accounts and they had made the investments in cash, therefore they were refunded and paid in cash only," the statement said.

It justified the payment made in cash, saying that SEBI and other statutory authorities permit cash transactions up to the tune of Rs 50,000, and the average investment in the OFCD was around Rs 8,000.