1,000 silver coins found in chit fund operator's locker

Police Saturday seized about 1,000 silver coins worth Rs.44 lakh from the bank locker of Seashore Group chairman Prashant Dash in connection with a multi-crore rupees chit fund scam in Odisha, an officer said.

Sleuths of the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the state's Crime Branch, who arrested Dash June 19 from Mumbai, broke open his locker at the Axis Bank branch in Bomikhal area here and found the coins, Deputy Inspector General of Police Rajesh Kumar told IANS.

Each coin weighing 10 gm was stamped with the logo of Seashore Group and a local jeweller.

Seashore Group, which operates several businesses with the state government's health and tourism departments, has been accused of collecting money from people in the state by promising high returns.

Police had registered several cases against Dash and the group's five directors in July last year after a large number of investors lodged complaints against them for not returning the assured money.

Although Dash had secured anticipatory bail from Odisha High Court, he was arrested in connection with a fresh case of fraud. Police had earlier raided various offices of the group in the state and sealed them.

Established in 2005, Seashore Group has been working in sectors including insurance, healthcare, IT and telecom, media, retail, education and agriculture. The company has denied any wrongdoing.

"Investigations are on to find out why his company manufactured so many silver coins," Kumar said.