Bhubaneswar, May 9: Anjan Kumar Baliarsingh, the chairman and managing director of Naba Diganta, a money deposit collection company accused of duping thousands of investors, has confessed to his crime in the court of special chief judicial magistrate, CBI.

The company had allegedly acquired a share capital of Rs 100 crore by cheating nearly 20,000 investors.

The admission of guilt by the Baliarsingh will be a problem for BJD Mayurbhanj MP Rama Chandra Hansdah, former BJD MLA Subarna Naik and former BJP MLA Hitesh Bagarti who were arrested by the CBI in November 2014 for their alleged involvement in the money laundering scam. All the three accused are currently lodged at Jharapada jail.

Sources said Baliarsingh confessed to his crime in a petition on Saturday. But it is up to the court whether to accept the petition or not as the trial of the accused had already begun in the second week of April. "My client was today produced before the court and it wanted to know whether he made the confession under any pressure. It is now up to the court whether to admit the confession or not," said Baliarsingh's lawyer Prashant Sahu.

The group allegedly swindled the investors through four companies - Naba Diganta Capital Services Ltd, Naba Diganta Agro Industries Ltd, Naba Diganta Project Limited and Nabadiganta Properties Limited. In its preliminary charge sheet the CBI had in February 2015 accused six persons, including Hansdah, Nayak and Bagarti, of fraud. Hansdah, Nayak and Bagarti had worked as directors of the company from 2011 to 2013, during which the Ponzi company flourished in the state.

The CBI had raided the residences of the three political leaders in July 2014 and seized cash worth Rs 28 lakh from Hansdah's residence in Mayurbhanj. The MP was arrested after he frequently changed his stance on the cash seized from his residence.

Baliarsingh's confession came after a number of accused from various Ponzi firms admitted their guilt before the commencement of trial. On April 6, the court had convicted Artha Tatwa chief Pradeep Sethy and group director Manoj Patnaik after both of them confessed to their crimes. The court had also convicted managing director Santosh Kisan Sapkale and director C.S. Chauhan of Ponzi firm Astha Intentional after both of them confessed to their crimes.