Odisha EOW Bust Rs 600 Cr Share Trading Scam, Arrest Firm Proprietor From Bengal

Bhubaneswar: The Economic Offences Wing (EOW), Odisha, on Saturday arrested proprietor of a firm, who was detained by Bureau of immigration) at Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport, Kolkata, on returning from Dubai on Friday, in connection with Rs 600 crore share trading scam.

The accused has been identified as Saiyyad Jiyajur Rahaman, proprietor of the LFS Broking & PMS Services and a native of West Bengal. A lookout circular was earlier issued against him and he will be produced in a court in Cuttack, an EOW release said.

He was arrested on the basis of a complaint lodged by Arun Kumar Pattanaik of Dhenkanal, alleging that Rahaman duped him and his relatives of more than 20 lakh on the pretext of share trading and monthly interest of 2% on the invested amount till the final return of the capital amount. “He allegedly cheated hundreds of investors like the informant in Odisha and the amount runs into crores of rupees,” it said.

The investigation revealed that Rahaman was earlier the director of the LFS Broking Pvt Ltd registered with ROC, Pune, Maharashtra and was authorised by SEBI.

“Subsequently, he became the proprietor of similar sounding name ‘LFS Broking and PMS Service (portfolio management service)’ to trade as a broker in share trading. The accused befooled people, who were under the impression that they are depositing money in LFS Broking Pvt Ltd, and collected crores of rupees for share trading in the account of LFS Broking and PMS Service. He collected more than 600 crore from people in Odisha, West Bengal, Bihar, Maharashtra, Jharkhand and Gujarat through the unauthorised account of LFS Broking and PMS Services. To attract more number of investors, he promised to pay additional 2% monthly interest on the invested amount. After paying initial monthly returns for share trading and additional interest, he stopped making any further payment and have been absconding since July 2023.”

The EOW further stated that Rahaman had collected Rs 100 crore from Odisha alone.

“The accused also owns Arambagh Hotels and Resorts Pvt Ltd. He has two wives – Habiba Begum and Ranjita Mahajan and both are directors of Arambagh Hotels and Resorts Pvt Ltd. It was found that huge amount of money was diverted to this company too.”

The release further said that SEBI had barred Rahaman for five years as a stock broker due to the fraudulent activities. “It also banned the portfolio manager, depository participant and research analyst. Several incriminating articles/documents have also been seized and further investigation is underway,” it added.