Sebi to auction properties of Royal Twinkle, Citrus Check Inns on Nov 27

NEW DELHI: Capital markets regulator Sebi on Friday said it has lined up as many as 54 properties of Royal Twinkle Star Club and Citrus Check Inns for an auction on November 27 at a reserve price of Rs 259 crore. The move is part of Sebi’s efforts to recover funds worth thousands of crores of rupees raised by the companies in the garb of sham “timeshare” holiday plans.

In a notice on Friday, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) said it will auction 54 properties of the companies on November 27 at a reserve price of Rs 259 crore.

The auction will be conducted through online mode, it added.

The properties to go under the hammer include equity investments, office premises, residential flats and land parcels, a shop and car parking area. These properties are located in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Daman and Dadra and Nagar Haveli.

In addition, the regulator will auction office furnitures, electronic and computer equipment of Royal Twinkle Star Club and Citrus Check Inns.

From November 2019 to September 2021, more than 169 properties of the companies were auctioned at a reserve price of about Rs 960 crore.

The move came after a Supreme Court order in December 2019 that directed the sale-cum-monitoring committee, headed by retired Justice J P Devdhar, to proceed with the sale of 114 properties of the companies within six months.

In December 2018, Sebi had imposed a penalty of Rs 50 lakh on Citrus Check Inns and its directors for non-compliance with its order, wherein it had barred them from raising funds from the public.

Sebi had received several investor complaints against Citrus alleging that directors of Royal Twinkle were now running their collective investment scheme (CIS) through Citrus.

In August 2015, the regulator had imposed a four-year ban on Royal Twinkle and its four directors for illegally raising over Rs 2,656 crore in the garb of sham “timeshare” holiday plans.

Besides, it had directed the company and its officials to refund the money along with promised returns to the investors in three months.