ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court has upheld the decision of the Appellate Bench of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) against the Shaukat Marwat Group of Companies (Private) Limited.
According to an SECP press release, its Appellate Bench had imposed penalties of Rs50 million and Rs10 million on Shaukat Marwat Group of Companies (Private) Limited and Shaukat Marwat Estates and Builders (Private) Limited respectively.
The two companies were found to be involved in illegal deposit-taking activities and were conducting a social media campaign related to such unlawful activities.
The SECP conducted a thorough investigation against them and issued show cause notices them on July 13, 2021 under Section 84 of the Companies Act, 2017, which culminated into penal orders dated March 18, 2022 along with the direction to unwind the unlawful transactions of deposit taking.
Both the companies filed appeals against the penal orders before the SECP’s Appellate Bench, which after due process of the law decided the cases on merit on May 02, 2023 and upheld the penal orders of the Commission’s Adjudication Division.
Subsequently, the companies filed appeals against the orders of the Appellate Bench before Islamabad High Court. The IHC held multiple hearings, wherein the SECP, through its special public prosecutors, successfully presented its case and defended the orders of its Appellate Bench and Adjudication Division. Resultantly, the high court dismissed the appeals by determining that the submissions made by the appellants were misconceived and without merit.
The SECP said that it had clarified in the past through multiple press releases that mere registration of a company with the Commission “does not authorize it to seek deposits from the general public. Deposit-taking by companies, other than banking companies and entities duly licensed by the SECP, is illegal under Section 84 of the Companies Act, 2017.”
“The general public is advised, in their own interest, to exercise caution and avoid dealing with and investing in illegal schemes offered by companies involved in unauthorized deposit-taking, unauthorized investments, or multi-level marketing schemes,” it added.
