New Delhi, , July 27 - A whopping 18,183 cases were filed against firms violating the Companies Act between Jan 1, 2008, and March 31, 2009, the government said Monday.

Further, a total of 238 companies were identified as having 'vanished' after cheating the public and siphoning off funds garnered by subscriptions to initial public offers (IPOs), said Corporate Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.

Of the 238 companies that vanished, 117 firms had been traced, he said.