Bhubaneswar: Pratap Kumar Biswal, chairman-cum-managing director (CMD) of Mass Infra Reality Ltd, has been arrested for allegedly duping depositors of over Rs 15 crore through his chit fund firm.
Biswal was nabbed by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Odisha Crime Branch from New Garia in Kolkata on Sunday. He was then brought to Odisha on a transit remand and produced before a designated court under OPID Act in Balasore on Monday.
According to EOW, the arrest was made on the basis of a complaint lodged by Sukadev Hota of Balasore. He had alleged that Biswal had duped him and several other depositors on the pretext of providing a high rate of interest on their deposits under different schemes floated by his companies – M/s Mass Infra Reality Ltd and Human Welfare Credit & Thrift Co-operative Society Ltd.
Preliminary investigation revealed that Mass Infra Reality Ltd was registered in Kolkata in September 2010 under the Companies Act 1956 having its registered office under Barasat Police Station, 24 Parganas in West Bengal. Biswal was the CMD of the company, which had six other directors. In 2012, the name of the company was changed to Human Welfare Credit & Thrift Co-operative Society Ltd registered under Multi-state Co-operative Societies Act, 2012 having its registered office in Laxmi Nagar, New Delhi.
The company floated schemes, unauthorisedly collected a huge amount of money from several investors promising high returns and absconded from the locality after closing their offices, the sources added.
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