Union Finance Minister Arun Jailtey has said that as many as 164 ponzi or Chit Fund companies are currently being probed by central agencies for duping customers across the country. In reply to a question in the Lok Sabha, Mr Jaitley said, cases pertaining to such companies assigned to the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) for investigation. He said, government has taken several steps to check cases of corporate frauds and protect interests of the investors of all such ponzi schemes.The action includes incorporating fraud as a substantive offence in the Companies Act, granting statutory status to the SFIO under the law, stricter norms of corporate governance and their implementation. The Minister said, several States have also framed laws to deal with ponzi scheme-related cases. Mr Jaitley said, the government has decided to set up a central authority under the law so that proper action can be taken against the guilty.