Anubhav Plantations

Also see Saradha group Scam

Also known as the Anubhav Teak Plantations Scam

Anubhav plantations (1992-1998) was an Indian Chennai based plantation company. It sold shares in teak plantations on guaranteed interests and later diversified to other schemes through four principal companies: Anubhav Agrotech, Anubhav Green Farms & Resorts, Anubhav Plantations, and Anubhav Royal Orchards Exports.

The company suddenly closed down in 1998, when the company could not pay its depositors any longer, leaving its thousands of investors in the lurch and unpaid. Its chairman Natesan went underground and the other directors claimed ignorance and innocence. It was subsequently revealed to have scammed its depositors by defrauding them of nearly Rs. 400 crore through Ponzi schemes. Investigations revealed that the company was a scam based on fraud as teak being an agriculture based commodity could not promise sure returns. The Anubhav case is often termed by the Indian media as "The Great Plantation Scam of the 1990s".

The Anubhav group of companies was founded by C.Natesan, a commerce graduate from Chennai's Vivekananda College and a chartered accountancy course dropout. Natesan started his career in 1983 by launching a consultancy firm called "Yours Faithfully Consultancy". In 1984, he started a construction company with three partners. Three years later in 1987, he closed this venture and set up the Anubhav Foundation which became the mother company of his future enterprises.

In 1991, as part of its post liberisation process, the Indian government allowed firms within India to be formed as financial entities. Investing in agricultural commodities, so far only permitted to NABARD was opened up to private investment. In this environment, Anubhav Plantations Ltd. (Anubhav) was floated by Natesan as a listed public limited company in 1992. Over the next six years, the Anubhav umbrella expanded to include various other companies including Anubhav Homes Ltd., Anubhav Resorts Ltd., Anubhav Finance & Investments, Anubhav Communications & Advertising (Pvt.) Ltd., Anubhav Royal Orchards & Exports, Anubhav Hire Purchase Ltd., Anubhav Green Farms & Resorts (Pvt.) Ltd., Anubhav Agro, Anubhav Security Bureau, Anubhav Interiors and Anubhav Health Club. Under these companies, the Anubhav group owned and operated 254 finance firms, including 95 firms of Anubhav finance investments, 169 firms of Anubhav dhan varsha and a firm each of Anubhav Agro and housing developers. Further the plantation companies themselves had several companies under them. For example, Anubhav plantation had six companies operating under it including Anubhav Good Earth Unit II, Anubhav Teak Deposit and Anubhav India Limited.