Odisha ready to assist CBI on chit fund probe

Permission sought to confiscate Rs 200 cr properties of Artha Tatwa

Stung by the Supreme Court order for probe into multi-crore chit fund scam by Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the Odisha government today said, it is ready to provide full cooperation to CBI to unearth various aspects of the financial fraud.

“We will fully comply with the Supreme Court’s order. In the past, the state government has offered full cooperation to the CBI in all cases and we will cooperate this time as well. As you are aware, this chit fund scam is not restricted to Odisha alone and it has spread to other states,” said state finance minister Prasanna Acharya.

It may be noted, after initial reluctance, Odisha had agreed for CBI probe into the scam at the fag end of the hearing of a PIL (public interest litigation) on the issue in the court. The crime branch of the state police is currently investigating the matter.

A bench of the apex court led by Justice T S Thakur said that the aspects of inter-state ramifications and the larger conspiracy angle required an in- depth probe by the premier investigative agency.

The bench asked the CBI to carry out further investigation wherever required. It directed the state agencies to assist the CBI in the probe.

The top court said regulators in the state governments failed to check the spread of the scam. The CBI will investigate cases against 44 scam tainted firms in Odisha that include West Bengal based Saradha Group and state based Seashore and Artha Tatwa Group among others.

In Odisha, fraudulent companies had duped investors' money worth Rs 4,600 crore, affecting around one million families. Both Congress and the BJP have welcomed the SC order for a CBI probe into the chit fund scam.

“The apex court’s verdict has proved beyond doubt that the state government was trying to protect the offenders who have duped lakhs of depositors of their hard earned money. The names of politicians has often cropped up in the scam and hence a probe by the CBI will clarify matters,” said senior Congress leader Narasingha Mishra.

“The apex court has finally realised the need for a CBI probe and we welcome the order. We hope the CBI will expose the politicians and officials who have offered patronage to the Ponzi scheme operators,” said senior BJP leader and former Union minister Juel Oram.

However, senior Biju Janata Dal (BJD) leader and Rajya Sabha member Kalpataru Das denied allegations of involvement of his party's leaders in the scam.

“The state government has made every effort to nab the culprits. We have confiscated properties of shady operators involved in the scam. Besides, the state government has announced a corpus fund and passed a new law to protect the interests of depositors,” Das said. Meanwhile, the Commissionerate Police has written to the state finance department, seeking permission to confiscate properties of Artha Tatwa Group worth Rs 200 crore in the second phase.

The identified assets include 32 flats and 141 acres land including 41 acres within the limits of the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) and the rest in Sambalpur, Puri, Ganjam and Jagatsinghpur districts.

Till March end this year, the crime branch has filed 441 cases against 163 chit fund companies in the state and arrested over 669 persons for their involvement in the fraud. Similarly, the economic offence wing (EOW), working under it, has sought permission of the government for confiscation of properties of 10 chit fund firms and the government has issued interim order to go ahead in eight cases.   

The chit fund scam in the state is presently being probed by the Justice R K Patra Commission of enquiry. Recently, the state government extended the tenure of the Commission, set up in July last year, by six months.