Artha Tatwa chairman Pradeep Sethi (circled in red) being taken to court on Monday. Picture by Ashwinee Pati

Bhubaneswar, May 13: Chairman-cum-managing director of a fraud deposit collection company (Artha Tatwa Multi-purpose Co-operative Society) Pradeep Sethi, who was arrested yesterday for allegedly cheating investors of Rs 130 crore, was today remanded in judicial custody for 14 days at Jharapada special jail following rejection of his bail plea.

Sethi, however, said he had surrendered before Kharavela Nagar police. He had been absconding since February after a few investors had lodged complaints with police for cheating them of huge amounts. “Several influential people were with me. But, they did not back me when needed,” he said.

Sethi’s company had promised the investors of good interest, but later, did not pay the money. The police registered a case against Sethi and his company following a complaint from former deputy-inspector general Sukumar Panigrahi on February 7.

Many people also lodged complaint with Kharavela Nagar police. On May 9, a group of people complained against Sethi and the company of cheating them of over Rs 70 crore.

The police said Panigrahi had deposited Rs 18 lakh with the micro-finance group in 2011. “I deposited my retirement benefits and gratuity money in installments with the company after they had promised me 3 per cent interest per month. The company paid me the interest for a few months, according to the agreement, and later, it reduced the interest to 1 per cent. Subsequently, they did not pay me my money and kept giving assurances,” said Panigrahi in his complaint.

The police are searching for the company’s other stakeholders, who had been named in the investors’ complaints.

Like Panigrahi, many people invested in sham deposit collection company that had promised high interest or land in return of the invested money. An official said the company had branches in several districts in Odisha and several other states in the country. More than 10 cases have been registered against Sethi in other police stations.