Bhubaneswar, July 31: A local court in Khurda today convicted Artha Tatwa chief Pradeep Sethy and his two aides and sentenced them to seven years in jail in a cheating case lodged with Kharvela Nagar police station in 2013.
The court of the chief judicial magistrate, Khurda, convicted the sham deposit collection company boss and two of his associates, Srikrushna Padhi and Manoj Patnaik. Both were officer-bearers of the company. Sethy was convicted by the court of special chief judicial magistrate, CBI, on April 6 in another cheating case.
Today's conviction was linked to a case registered against Artha Tatwa Enterprises Ltd with Kharavela Nagar police in 2013 on the basis of a formal complaint by Priyabrata Mallick.
"All the accused were convicted under sections 420, 406 and 120 (B) of the India Penal Code. Seventeen witnesses were examined during the trial. The accused cheated Priyabrata Mallick through a gold deposit scheme," said additional public prosecutor B.N. Mohanty.
Kharavela Nagar police had registered two cases against the Ponzi firm in 2013. While the CBI took over one of the cases after a Supreme Court direction in May 2014, the other case was being investigated by Manoj Kumar Samant, the then inspector in-charge of Kharavela Nagar police station.
The cops arrested Sethy in May 2013. The preliminary chargesheet submitted by the Kharavela Nagar police in July 2013 had mentioned that Artha Tatwa Enterprises Pvt Ltd had swindled around Rs 40 crore from investors.
In all, the group has allegedly swindled Rs 1,200 crore from thousands of investors across the state. The company, which started operations in 2010, collected investments with the promise of high returns of 15 to 20 per cent. In February 2013, some investors had lodged a case against the group and subsequently, other investors followed suit.
The CBI has arrested more than 20 persons in connection with the group's money laundering allegations, including BJD legislator Pravat Tripathy, former advocate-general Asok Mohanty and Mumbai-based model Priti Bhatia. The central agency has also arrested stockbroker Deepak Pareekh and Rajat Choudhury, former youth president of the Congress's state unit for allegedly receiving benefits from the group.
