Kolkata 700001, home of 37 shell companies or even more?
After SEBI asked the bourses to take strict action against suspected "shell companies" aka firms that have been created for money laundering, something bizarre was unearthed. Out of the 331 listed companies in its radar, 35 were registered in Delhi, 53 in Maharashtra and a whopping 141 in West Bengal, a state usually absent from big financial showdowns. This is an interesting read.
The numbers give it away
If one takes a close look at the registered addresses of the 284 firms, whose pin codes could be ascertained, an impressive 37 were built at just one of the pin codes of India (out of over 19,000 pin codes). It is the pin code 700001, in Central Kolkata, an area well-known to be a bustling hub of lawyers and chartered accountants.
What's going on here?
On scrutiny, one would say that these Kolkata lawyers and CAs are skilled in the art of creating "shell companies". Kolkata no longer serves as the epicenter of such businesses, which are now spread across cities like Delhi and Mumbai. However, a majority of these firms still get themselves registered in this city. A humongous clandestine operation worthy of a successful Bollywood potboiler, you'd say?
Numbers, numbers again
Around 688,000 firms have come into existence in India since January 2010. Out of them, 13,274 firms are registered at this Kolkata pin code. It is not necessary that all of them are shell companies, but the staggering number raises some serious questions. The pin code 110092 in East Delhi is next in the list and it has 11,000 registered companies.
