India's Sahara group has said its employees were helping to raise $1.7 billion in bail money to free the financial giant's chief Subrata Roy from prison, AFP reports.
Roy, 65, was sent to New Delhi's Tihar Jail on March 4 over a case involving the repayment of billions of dollars collected in an illegal investment scheme.
On March 26, Indian Supreme Court set condition of depositing 100 billion rupees for releasing Sahara chief Subrata Roy on bail.
In a statement, Sahara said the move by workers to drum up the money was "an emotional initiative" by the people.
But local media reported that Sahara executives had sent employees emails urging them to contribute, a claim denied by an executive of the company.
Sahara, a household name through its one-time sponsorship of India's cricket team and owner of landmark New York and London hotels, raised 200 billion rupees ($3.2 billion) from millions of small savers through an illegal bond scheme.
Regulators ordered the group to pay the money back with 15 percent interest -- even though the Supreme Court said there were "serious doubts about the existence" of the investors.
That fuelled long-running allegations the company may have been engaged in money-laundering for rich politicians.
Sahara insists the company has only been helping poor, mainly rural investors who are hard to locate.