Chit Fund Scam: Prayag Group’s CMD Basudeb Bagchi, Son Get Bail

Bhubaneswar: The Orissa High Court on Wednesday granted conditional bail to Prayag Group chairman and managing director (CMD) Basudeb Bagchi and his son Avik Bagchi, who were earlier arrested in connection with a chit fund scam.

The bail was granted against two sureties and a deposit of Rs 1 crore.

The court directed them to cooperate in the investigation and deposit their passports with the investigating officer, besides warning them against influencing any of the witnesses.

Avik Bagchi is one of the directors in the group that collected money from people, violating the SEBI rules. The father-son duo was summoned to the CBI headquarters in Kolkata and arrested on March 15, 2017, after a marathon grilling.

In July 2017, the CBI filed chargesheet against them in the Court of Special CJM, as part of the multi-crore chit fund scam in the state. They were charged under Sections 120 (B) r/w 409 and 420 of IPC, which included cheating, misappropriation of funds and criminal conspiracy,  and 4, 5 and 6 of Prize Chits and Money Circulation Schemes (Banning) Act, 1978.

Prayag Group was one of the groups that started Ponzi scheme in the eastern region. The business was spread over several eastern and north-eastern states, including Bihar, Odisha, Assam and Tripura.

The group, whose film city was endorsed by the Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan, had mobilised more than Rs 1,900 crore from people through its “illegal” chit fund schemes. The actor had inaugurated the Rs 1,000-crore Prayag Film City at Chandrakona in West Midnapore on April 15, 2012.

With its headquarters at Behala in South Kolkata, the group had initiated the chit fund scheme in 2002. It had also entered other businesses including tourism, film production, real estate, media, food processing, confectionery products, cement industry, hotels and resorts.