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+--- Thread: WHO IS AFRAID OF FROM JUSTICE - SPIRITLESS WARNING (/showthread.php?tid=7927)
WHO IS AFRAID OF FROM JUSTICE - SPIRITLESS WARNING - javed - 05-04-2010
The SECP has issued a warning to the general public to be careful of fraudulent companies, non corporate entities and some individuals unlawfully operating in various parts of the country. According to the warning these fraudulent were involved in acquiring huge investments under the garb of fraudulent employment, lottery and real estate scams, deposits, loans, introducing brokers, multi level marketing, cheating through post, emails, phone calls and various other devices.
It is a general belief that our regulatory bodies like SBP, SECP, CDA, KDA etc only wake up after ensuring that enough water had passed through under the bridge. A housing project was announced in Rawalpindi in 1993 quoting there in the newspaper advertisement an NOC number from the Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA). RDA after 7 years in 2000 warned the people to be careful as it had not issued any NOC to the advertiser. The classical example is that of 1983-85 when the then Federal Ombudsman the most honourable Mr. Justice Sardar Mohammad Iqbal directed both Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Interior to take note of mushroom growth of so called lucky installment schemes. One may not believe that in 1981-82 Pakistan laws strictly prohibited any sale with any alluring element but Home Departments both of Punjab and Sindh gave written permissions to run the lucky draw motorcycle scheme to the same single family which according to a newspaper article was allowed to loot the public both by SBP and CLA under nine different labels. The example of this can be seen from the very caution being issued by the SECP that it has listed a number of fraudulent activities namely housing schemes, employment schemes, investment schemes but has taken care not at all to indicate even one single name of such a company/entity which may actually practically directly help save the innocent public from becoming a potential aggrieved. When the public does not know which person and which company in the sharp eyes of SECP is doing illegal investment, parallel banking, employment providing, real estate and giving money in hands of such persons/companies is highly risky for the innocent ordinary man, how can the potential aggrieved can know that. Merely issuing routine press warnings without indicating the culprits or thus safeguarding such culprits is nothing but just to complete file procedural requirement as did the RDA after 7 years when fully ensured what maximum could had come in the pocket of fraudulent housing scheme owner had come and nothing more is to come. Had there been real interest towards the common man, instead of a press release type warning a paid-public-notice containing names of all such concerned must had been published in dailies repeatedly. How high actually are hands of such people can be judged from the fact that the DC Rawalpindi perforce when investigated submitted in his written report that both the said 1993 advertised RDA-referenced housing scheme as was its owner were fraud. After this fraud the job of both the DC and the Punjab Ombudsman finished as none of them later took any interest to take the matter further to know who had got sweet in RDA who remained silent 7 years , where are the fraudulent people and how to safeguard interest of looted people.
Taj Medical Complex in 80s was allowed by CLA (now SECP) to seek public participation in shape of public allocations for its shares. The company perhaps thrice or four time during 10-15 years to the best of my memories paid a nominal dividend. Sometime late 90s the company was allowed to de-list itself from the stock exchange. The company offered the shareholders to surrender their shares at Rs. 10/- at which prices those were purchased some 10-15 years back. The SECP gave this permission. It was really a wonderful thing that a company enjoyed with the public money in establishing itself and when it got properly established and dividends started coming it was allowed to enjoy the fruits exclusively and cruelly throw the Rs. 10/- note on the face of those who by their currency notes helped it at the time of its â bad needâ. I opted not to surrender. No law bound me to surrender. Thus legally I am still a shareholder of the company though not as stock-exchange-type-shareholder but in simple word a partner-shareholder of the company and am entitled to proportionate profits the company earns.
In 1947-48 a Lahore based a small individual proprietorship company was similarly seeking verbally public money. My grandfather deposited Rs. 50/-. When I was a child I knew every year a letter containing a cheque of Rs. 6 or Rs. 8/- used to come in his name. It was then a good money. We used to wait this cheque very eagerly. When it arrived my father used to grab this opportunity and go to Lahore from Sialkot at a total return bus journey at Rs. 3/- and bring gifts out of balance Rs. 3/-. My grandfather died in 1975 and the family also left permanently for Karachi. Three month back January 2010 after 39 years I visited Sialkot just to see my old house, my school and my city Sialkot. The new owner of our old house talking generally told me that still once in a blue moon a letter from somewhere does come in my name but invariably at least one in the name of my grandfather from Lahore which due to no forwarding address are returned back to senders. That small company, an honest business concern, still I am sure not a stock exchange company, has till today not forgotten my late grandfather who helped it in its establishment with a Rs. 50/- some 64 years ago. But the Taj Medical Complex has completely forgotten me. During all these I never has got any just ordinary communication from it let alone any Dividend.
I took up the matter with SECP that since it was the authority which registered the company and then without taking consent/input from the shareholders allowed it to get itself deregistered when the fruit became ripe however it must had allowed under some condition keeping in view that those who do not accept âoption of surrenderâ there would be the safeguard of their interest. I can not believe a person or a company can have or keep âpeoples money as investmentâ with it and some government Department like SECP, SBP, Directors of Firms etc is not having jurisdiction over it for safety of public interest. It is today at least more than one and a half year I have sought this guiding information from the SECP so that in light of its response I may approach the concerned advised authority but SECP has damned care to give me any response as, as is generally believed, it has in fact no interest with the safety of the common manâs small money.
- ciapk - 05-05-2010
Concurred