Chit Fund Scam: Odisha Govt Gives CBI Details Of Vernacular Daily

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government has provided to the CBI details about the circulation and advertisement tariff of an Odia vernacular daily in connection with the much talked-about Artha Tatwa chit fund scam.

Besides providing circulation numbers and advertisement tariff per sq cm of the Odia daily, the Information and Public Relations (I&PR) Department also furnished details of some other vernacular dailies.

It may be recalled that the central investigating agency had arrested Bikash Kumar Swain, owner of Odia daily Suryaprava, and Ranjan Das, owner of another chit fund company Swastik India and a former employee of AT Group on September 5, 2014, after evidence suggested their involvement in the business transaction of the AT Group.

The court of the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Bhubaneswar, on July 31, 2017, sentenced AT Group chief Pradip Sethy and two company directors to seven-year prison terms for their involvement in the chit fund scam in Odisha.

Earlier, a Special CBI court had sentenced Sethy to seven years of imprisonment.

The group, registered under the Companies Act and Multi-State Cooperative Societies Act, had duped thousands of depositors of over Rs 500 crore after collecting money from them with a promise of high returns ranging from 15 to 20 per cent.

Along with Sethy, 20 company employees were also arrested for their involvement in the chit fund scam.

Also Read: CBI Reopens Probe Into Seashore Chit Fund Scam In Odisha!