Bhubaneswar, May 30: The Odisha government today ordered a judicial probe into the multi-crore fraud allegedly committed by various deposit collection companies.
A sitting judge of Orissa High Court will conduct the probe.
A release issued by the chief minister’s office said the commission would “inquire into the alleged frauds committed by various chit fund companies, including Saradha, Sea Shore and Artha Tatwa. The court will be requested to spare the service of a sitting judge of the high court for this purpose”. The commission will be asked to submit its report within three months. Saradha Group has its headquarters in Bengal, while the other two companies — Sea Shore and Artha Tatwa — are based in Odisha. The three companies have allegedly swindled nearly Rs 2,000 crore by duping investors, including some well-heeled and educated people such as a former police officer in the rank of deputy inspector general. The police have so far raided 85 such companies and arrested 170 people in this connection.
The crime branch, which is inquiring into the scam by Saradha group, Sea Shore and Artha Tatwa, has sealed their offices. Now, the cops are seizing their movable and immovable properties. While Artha Tatwa Group chairman Pradeep Sethy has been put behind bars, Sea Shore chairman Prashant Das is out on bail. The crime branch is planning to bring Saradha chief Sudipta Sen on remand. Today, it took over the case of cheating by another deposit collection company, Green Ray International, which had allegedly cheated hundreds of investors in Balasore.
Former director-general of police Gopal Nanda said: “As hundreds of people turn up to lodge their complaints, it will be difficult for the commission to complete the hearing in three months.”
The issue has snowballed into a major controversy last week after Union minister of state for statistics and programme implementation Srikant Jena described chief minister Naveen Patnaik as the “brand ambassador” of Sea Shore group. Jena targeted Naveen as the latter had attended the launch of Sea Shore’s television channel.
The Odisha government has found itself caught on a sticky wicket after the Artha Tatwa group chief Pradeep Sethy had revealed during the interrogation that a number of leaders from the BJD and several journalists and bureaucrats were his beneficiaries.
“Sethy’s revelation has put the government on the back foot,” said a senior BJD leader. Yesterday, the police arrested Srikrishna Padhi, one of the former directors of the Artha Tatwa group, who also worked for a vernacular daily.
According to the terms of reference, the commission will probe and bring out the involvement of influential persons, including politicians, bureaucrats and people from other sections of the society, if any, in protecting or promoting fraud fund collection companies. It will also be asked to suggest measures to safeguard the interests of genuine investors affected by the recent incidents of such frauds.
The Odisha government will ask the commission to suggest safeguards for future to ensure financial security for genuine investors and for the prevention of such problems in future.
The Congress said that the inquiry was a ploy to buy time. Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee president Jayadev Jena said: “As many as 22 commissions have been instituted under Naveen Patnaik’s regime. But, the people are yet to get justice.”
On the other hand, health minister Damodar Rout said: “The Odisha government has done the right thing by going for a judicial probe.”
More arrests
The police today arrested two more directors of Artha Tatwa group for their alleged involvement in the fraudulent activities of the company, which has cheated investors of over Rs 500 crore.
The duo were identified as Sri Krishna Padhee, 35, of Balangir and Manoj Pattnaik, 38, of Polasara in Ganjam district. They were arrested from various parts of the city.
