Government, which has ordered an investigation against the controversial multi-level marketing company Speak Asia Online, informed Parliament on Monday that the preliminary inquiry revealed that it is not registered under the Companies Act.
The Singapore-based company is alleged to have duped 12 lakh investors across India to the tune of Rs 1,300 crore, according to the Mumbai police which has arrested Speak Asia's chief operating officer Tarak Bajpai, 'panelist' Deepankar Sarkar and others.
Minister of State for Corporate Affairs RPN Singh told the Rajya Sabha in a written reply that his Ministry has ordered investigation into activities of Speak Asia.
"As per preliminary inquiry, it is found that the company is not registered under the Companies Act. Besides, the company has also not registered its place of business with the Registrar of Companies, Delhi, as required under Section 592 of the Companies Act, 1956," Singh said.
Meanwhile, the Mumbai police also made enquiries from PR and lobbying firm Perfect Relations and its co-founder Dilip Cherian in the case.
"They (police) came to our office yesterday. They wanted to know about our relationship with Speak Asia. We told them it is a purely a client-agency relationship and showed our contract," Cherian said.
He further said that Perfect Relations has stopped dealings with Speak Asia as criminality came to light.
Speak Asia's India CEO Manoj Kumar, who is currently in Dubai, said on phone that he would be coming to India by the end of this week and refuted rumours that he had gone underground.
The Singapore-based company is alleged to have duped 12 lakh investors across India to the tune of Rs 1,300 crore, according to the Mumbai police which has arrested Speak Asia's chief operating officer Tarak Bajpai, 'panelist' Deepankar Sarkar and others.
Minister of State for Corporate Affairs RPN Singh told the Rajya Sabha in a written reply that his Ministry has ordered investigation into activities of Speak Asia.
"As per preliminary inquiry, it is found that the company is not registered under the Companies Act. Besides, the company has also not registered its place of business with the Registrar of Companies, Delhi, as required under Section 592 of the Companies Act, 1956," Singh said.
Meanwhile, the Mumbai police also made enquiries from PR and lobbying firm Perfect Relations and its co-founder Dilip Cherian in the case.
"They (police) came to our office yesterday. They wanted to know about our relationship with Speak Asia. We told them it is a purely a client-agency relationship and showed our contract," Cherian said.
He further said that Perfect Relations has stopped dealings with Speak Asia as criminality came to light.
Speak Asia's India CEO Manoj Kumar, who is currently in Dubai, said on phone that he would be coming to India by the end of this week and refuted rumours that he had gone underground.
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