Odisha chit-fund scam: Investors to be identified by June

The process of identification of actual investors duped in a chit-fund scam in Odisha will be over by the end of June, said a senior official on Friday.

"The verification process for identification of (chit-fund) depositors has already started. The trend shows that it would be completed in the months of May-June," said Chief Secretary A.P. Padhi after holding a review meeting here.

Padhi took a review meeting with District Collectors and Superintendents of Police of all districts through video-conferencing.

He said a three-member team had been formed at block-level to undertake field verification and identify actual investors affected by the scam.

The Chief Secretary underlined that verification would not be a mere comparison between photocopies and original documents. Authenticity of documents and legitimacy of the depositors would also be examined.

The Collectors had been directed to record the process of verification through videography and CCTVs, he added.

Finance Secretary Tuhinkant Pandey said: "Two sets of the list of depositors are being verified at the field level -- one is the list of Rose Valley group and the other is that of small depositors, as suggested by Commission of Inquiry."

A specially-designated court has directed the state government to consider refund to around 3.93 lakh depositors of Rose Valley, while the Justice M.M. Das Commission of Inquiry has identified 12,000 small depositors hit by the chit-fund scam, said Pandey.

--IANS

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