Chit Fund Scam: Odisha Police Arrest Ex-Andhra MLA

Bhubaneswar: Odisha Police have arrested a former MLA of Andhra Pradesh in connection with a chit fund scam in 2019.

Accused Malla Vijaya Prasad had represented the Vizag West Assembly constituency on a YSR Congress Party ticket.

Sleuths from the Odisha Crime Branch’s Economic Offences Wing (EOW) raided Prasad’s house in Vishakhapatnam on Monday night and arrested him. They also seized Rs 45 lakh in cash and incriminating documents.

Vijay Prasad was produced before the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Visakhapatnam, on Monday evening and brought on transit remand before being produced at the Court of OPID, Cuttack Tuesday. The case was registered on the allegation of a large number of investors of Odisha. Vijay along with two other directors is reported to have promised high rate of interest on several bogus deposit schemes launched by his Welfare Group of Companies, Visakhapatnam.

Welfare Building & Estates Pvt. Ltd. Company, originally registered with ROC, Hyderabad, subsequently moved to Kolkata in 2011, having its head office at Visakhapatnam and registered office at Kolkata. The company opened its branches at Bhubaneswar, Narsinghpur (Cuttack) and Nayagarh in Odisha between 2009 and 2014. The company’s units were opened at Berhampur, Jeypore, Semiliguda (Koraput), Cuttack and Balasore in 2002

Prasad was allegedly involved in a Rs 1,200-crore chit fund scam in which thousands of depositors from Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Telangana had lost their savings.

Notably, the CBI had raided the offices and houses of Prasad in 2016 and seized Rs 44.9 lakh in cash. However, the company suddenly closed its branch offices in 2012 without informing the depositors.