Cuttack, Sept. 3: A local court here has ordered the public auction of properties of one Vista Management Services Ltd, a sham deposit collection company that has duped investors to the tune of nearly Rs 35 crore.

Court of Additional District and Sessions Judge, Cuttack, has also ordered that proceeds from the sale would go to the duped investors. 'The designated special court passed the order under the Odisha Protection of Interests of Depositors (In Financial Establishments) Act, 2011,' special public prosecutor Subrata Mohanty said.

Vista Management Services mobilised funds from investors by issuing redeemable preference shares that offered lucrative returns. Later, the firm and its directors illegally accessed the securities market with the funds.

The crime branch's economic offences wing arrested the company's managing director Dev Kumar Panda on charges of misappropriating investments on May 17, 2015. Later, it attached the properties of the Bhubaneswar-based company its subsidiary units Vista Infra Home Ltd, Vista Agriculture and Farming Ltd and Vista Agriculture and Food Products Pvt Ltd.

The attached properties, worth around Rs 1.35 crore, include 14.135 acres worth Rs 1.31 crore and bank accounts with deposits of around Rs 3.86 lakh. It also includes six vehicles.

Following a communication from the finance department, the Cuttack additional district magistrate had filed a petition before the designated special court seeking permission to auction the attached properties. The court endorsed the petition on Friday. 'The judge approved the order of attachment and directed the competent authority to auction the attached properties and release the sale proceed,' Mohanty said.