New Delhi: Hundreds of cases related to corporate frauds in the country have been reported in the recent years. The year-wise details of the investigations ordered through the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) during the last three years and the current year are as under.
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| Year | Investigations referred to SFIO | Investigations completed | Investigations under progress | Investigations Quashed/ stayed by Courts |
| 2013-14 | 83 | 78 | 04 | 01 |
| 2014-15 | 71 | 49 | 19 | 03 |
| 2015-16 | 184 | 11 | 172 | 01 |
| 2016-17
(till date) |
52 | 01 | 50 | 01 |
| Total | 390 | 139 | 245 | 06 |
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During the last three years and in the current year, SFIO has filed 258 prosecutions in various Courts. In this period, 163 number of cases have been disposed of by the courts, of which there have been successful convictions in 77 cases wherein punishment including imprisonment to directors as well as of fines have been imposed.
The mandate under the Companies Act is to conduct investigations, find out the violations of Companies Act, 1956, and take penal action for appropriate punishment provided under the Companies Act, 1956.
Details of expenditure incurred on the functioning of SFIO during the last three years and the current year are as follows.
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| Year | Amount (in crore) |
| 2013-14 | 9.25 |
| 2014-15 | 9.84 |
| 2015-16 | 10.18 |
| 2016-17 (till date) | 8.91 |
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The NDA government has taken various measures to strengthen the SFIO to check fraud or irregularities by companies. The term “fraud” has been defined in the Companies Act, 2013. The government has given statutory status to the SFIO. It has increased the application of technology for early detection of frauds through data mining and forensic audit.
The information above was furnished by Arjun Ram Meghwal, Minister of State in the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, in written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha today.
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