Odisha chit fund scam: CBI arrests two businessmen

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Sunday arrested two businessmen in Odisha in connection with a multi-crore-rupee chit fund scam, a lawyer said.

The CBI officials arrested Mumbai-based stock broker Deepak Pareek and real estate broker Dharmendra Bothra after interrogating them for hours in the state capital Bhubaneswar.

"They were later produced in the local special CBI court where the judge rejected their bail plea. The court allowed the investigating agency to take Bothra on a four-day remand while sending Pareek to judicial custody till Sep 30," the lawyer said.

The CBI is investigating the chit fund scam on the direction of the Supreme Court.

The scam came to light after a large number of investors last year complained that many firms collected huge amounts of money from them promising high returns, but later refused to pay them back as promised.

The CBI is probing at least 44 companies in Odisha. They include Kolkata-based Saradha Group, and Odisha-based Seashore and Artha Tatwa groups. The loss from the scam is claimed to be running into thousands of crores of rupees.

Both Bothra and Pareek have been arrested for their alleged link with the Artha Tatwa group.