Chit Fund Firm Dupes Investors Of Crores; Owners Flee In Odisha’s Balasore

Balasore: Several investors of a chit fund company have been duped of nearly Rs 30 crore in Odisha’s Balasore.

The chit fund company, Auroxa Deal Multitrade Pvt Ltd, managed by four persons has duped investors of Balasore, Bhadrak, Mayurbhanj and Keonjhar districts.

The incident came to light after some investors of Bhubaneswar branch filed a complaint with Economic Offences Wing (EOW). The investors and agents stated in their complaint that the company had collected over Rs 30 crore from investors by promising hefty returns besides vehicles, houses, bank deposits and foreign trips in just six months.

After making some payments for about three months, the company suddenly shut shop and was out of contact. Smelling something foul, the agents approached EOW and filed a complaint against company founders, Sarat Nayak, Prabhat Ranjan Das, Bishikeshan Behera and Prasanna Mallik.

Talking to media persons, one of the agents Sachikant Mallick said the company organised a grand programme in Balasore and lured people with false promises of doubling money and free gifts.

“Th company used to collect Rs 7,000, Rs 12,000, Rs 25,000 and Rs 49,000 from depositors and gifted electronic gadgets (like remote-operated smartphone) and promised cash backs up to 250 days in return,” said Mallick.

After winning the faith of people, the company opened more franchisees and used to collect Rs 5 lakh to Rs 20 lakh from different investors, said another agent Jayaprakash Mallick.

The four masterminds decamped with investors money following which the agents and investors approached police for help.