New Delhi, Aug 5 (IANS) The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has taken up 76 investment-related fraud cases during the five-year period from April 2020 to March 2025, in which the culprits were ordered to disgorge Rs 949. 43 crore as illicit gains, the Parliament was informed on Tuesday.

The highest disgorgement amount was levied in FY 2021-2022 at Rs 359.96 crore, while a sum of Rs 180.48 crore was ordered to be disgorged during 2024-25, data tabled by the Minister of State for Finance, Pankaj Chaudhary, in the Rajya Sabha showed.

The minister further stated in his written reply that several Central government, enforcement, and regulatory agencies have been taking action to prevent, detect, and act against investment-related frauds.

In the last five years, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has identified nine cases, primarily relating to multi-level marketing (MLM) scams. During the period from Jan 1, 2020, to July 30, 2025, the Directorate of Enforcement has taken up around 220 cases for investigation of the offence of money laundering under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA), related to investment-related frauds.

The minister also noted that crypto assets are currently not regulated in India. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI)-SACHET portal receives complaints pertaining to unauthorised deposit-taking activities from unregistered/unincorporated entities. Between April 1, 2020, to March 31, 2025, approximately 3,454 complaints have been received on the SACHET Portal pertaining to ‘non-repayment of money collected from various kinds of investment schemes’, and 1,531 complaints have been received pertaining to ‘collection of money through MLM, direct selling, and ponzi schemes, based on complaint categories selected by complainants.

The minister further stated that multiple initiatives and investor awareness campaigns are being undertaken to prevent, detect, and act against such fraud. These include Cyber Fraud Mitigation Centre (CFMC) and ‘Suspect Registry’ at the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C), set up by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) with representatives from major financial institutions, telecom service providers, IT intermediaries, and states and Union Territories law enforcement agencies, along with a Senior Level Coordination Group (SLCG) formed by MHA, addresses cyber-fraud related issues.

The RBI has issued Reserve Bank of India (Digital Lending) Directions, 2025, to address concerns related to unethical practices by digital lending applications and confidential advisories to banks for robust systems to detect cyber frauds and money mule activity.

Besides, the RBI generates public awareness about safe digital practices through campaigns across TV, print, SMS, and digital platforms such as the RBI Kehta Hai campaign and BE(A)WARE’ booklet, to educate consumers on fraud types and redressal mechanisms, the minister said.

He further stated that in the financial year 2024-25, SEBI, along with the Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI) and Asset Management Companies (AMC), conducted investor awareness programs in 724 districts across 36 States and Union Territories, covering nearly 32 lakh investors. SEBI has also launched the Saa₹thi Mobile App, offering educational resources and investment information to protect investors.

The SEBI also runs the “SEBI vs SCAM” Campaign, which generates an ongoing fraud awareness campaign via TV, print, radio, and social media in partnership with Market Infrastructure Institutions (MIIs), the minister added.

–IANS

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