Odisha chit fund scam: Court orders confiscation of property of Artha Tatwa Group
The Odisha Protection of Interests of Depositors (OPID) court in Cuttack today ordered for confiscation of the moveable and immovable property of Artha Tatwa (AT) Group, a chit fund company.
Cuttack: The Odisha Protection of Interests of Depositors (OPID) court in Cuttack today ordered for confiscation of the moveable and immovable property of Artha Tatwa (AT) Group, a chit fund company.
As per the order of the court, the properties of the chit fund company which will be confiscated include 113 acres of land, 11 luxury cars and Rs 2.17 crore bank deposits. The company has lands in Bhubaneswar, Begunia, Tangi, Bhadrak, Balasore, Ganjam, Puri and Angul.
The court has asked the concerned officials to return the money received after confiscation of the property to the duped investors.
Artha Tatwa company had reportedly duped over Rs 600 Crore from the depositors between 2009 and 2012. The matter came to light after several depositors filed complaints at different parts of the State. The first complaint was filed by a retired DIG of Police at Kharvel Nagar police station in Bhubaneswar on February 7, 2013. The company duped him of Rs 17 lakh.
Acting on the complaints, police initiated an investigation and arrested AT Group chief Pradeep Sethi in May, 2013. He was in the jail for around 10 years for the chit fund scam.
Ms Kalinga