HYDERABAD: Two years after the Karvy Stock Broking Limited (KSBL) scam came to light, hundreds of investors are still waiting to get their hard-earned money back.
What’s distressing is that these investors have been relentlessly lodging complaints with market regulator Sebi, NSE as well as the company but all their pleas have been falling on deaf ears.
In November 2020, NSE had said that funds and securities worth Rs 2,300 crore belonging to over 2.4 lakh KSBL investors with fund balance up to Rs 30,000 were settled.
Mumbai-based retired professional V Lamba, 62, is in dire straits as his entire retirement fund of nearly Rs 95 lakh is stuck with Karvy.
“Karvy is a big name and its clients include large corporates. There is no way an investor like me would have doubted its credentials. Today, I have no other source of income and have been going through a harrowing experience because of Karvy and I do not know how to get my money back…,” he said.
Most of the investors pointed to the repeated breach of deadlines by Karvy in settlement of accounts. Karvy has been repeatedly assuring investors that it is in the process of raising funds and once it gets money, it will be able to settle accounts, but nothing has materialised yet.
Bengaluru-based Sivaraman Hariharan, 52, who has suffered losses to the tune of around Rs 1 lakh said, “I have sent over 30 complaints to Sebi, NSE as well as Karvy, but I am yet to receive any concrete answers from them. Even my cousin has been hit by this scam as his shares worth around Rs 1.5 lakh have been stuck in Karvy’s pool account,” he said.
Hariharan also said that the arrest of KSBL chairman C Parthasarathy does not mean much to a small investor like him because earlier also corporate honchos were sent behind bars but they managed to come out and start their lives all over again.
Kakinada-based investor Dr BK Santosh, 39, too said that post the Karvy scam, he does not wish to continue with any trading activities and now would only depend on his income from the medical profession.
Mohit Todi from Dibrugarh Assam, said three members from his family had accounts with Karvy and last year, one of them, Laduram Agarwalla, his grandfather died, making matters more complex for them.
