The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has directed the disgorgement of Rs 949.43 crore in 76 investment-related fraud cases between April 2020 and March 2025, according to information shared in Parliament on Tuesday.
Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary informed the Rajya Sabha that the highest disgorgement occurred in FY 2021-22 at Rs 359.96 crore, followed by Rs 180.48 crore during FY 2024-25. He highlighted that several central agencies and regulators are working to detect, prevent, and act against such frauds.
Over the past five years, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) identified nine cases linked mainly to multi-level marketing (MLM) scams. From January 2020 to July 2025, the Enforcement Directorate investigated around 220 cases of money laundering under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), related to investment fraud.
Chaudhary also noted that crypto assets remain unregulated in India. The Reserve Bank of India’s SACHET portal received 3,454 complaints between April 2020 and March 2025 over non-repayment of funds from investment schemes, along with 1,531 complaints involving MLM, direct selling, and ponzi schemes.
To combat fraud, the government has rolled out several initiatives, including the Cyber Fraud Mitigation Centre (CFMC) and ‘Suspect Registry’ at the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C), with participation from financial institutions, telecom operators, IT intermediaries, and law enforcement agencies.
The RBI has introduced the Digital Lending Directions, 2025, issued advisories to banks for enhanced cyber fraud detection, and launched public awareness campaigns like ‘RBI Kehta Hai’ and the ‘BE(A)WARE’ booklet.
In FY 2024-25, SEBI, along with the Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI) and Asset Management Companies (AMC), organized investor awareness programs across 724 districts in 36 states and union territories, reaching nearly 32 lakh investors. The regulator also launched the Saa₹thi mobile app to provide investment education and runs the “SEBI vs SCAM” campaign to spread fraud awareness via multiple media platforms.
