New Delhi
In a fresh crackdown on Saharas, markets regulator SEBI has found another group firm to have raised over Rs 14,000 crore in violation of rules and has ordered the company and its then directors, including Subrata Roy, to refund the money with 15% annual interest.

The order, which also bars the company, Sahara India Commercial Corporation Ltd , as well as its then directors and associated entities from the markets and from associating with any public entity, relates to collecting funds between 1998 and 2009 from nearly 2 crore investors through issuance of certain bonds.

SEBI has passed this new order when a long-running legal dispute is going on in the Supreme Court over an earlier order from the markets regulator asking two other Sahara firms in 2011 to refund over Rs 24,000 crore garnered by issuing similar bonds the optionally fully convertible debentures to nearly 3 crore people.

While Sahara has been asked to refund the money to a special SEBI account under a Supreme Court-monitored repayment process, the group has been saying it has already refunded more than 98% of the amount directly to investors and the proof for the same have been given to SEBI.