Bihar plans to end ponzi schemes

PATNA: Sebi chairman UK Sinha, RBI and Bihar government officials will meet on Thursday in Patna to discuss strategies to end ponzi schemes in the state, amid calls for a unified regulator.

“The Centre has ordered a probe by the Serious Fraud Investigation Office into the business operations of 73 such firms operating in the country,’’ said Bihar deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi. “But I have strong misgivings whether the SFIO will be able to take the probe to its logical conclusion.'' States such as West Bengal, Bihar and Odisha in the last few years had seen a proliferation of finance companies that promised high returns to raise funds. While for sometime they could return due to the real estate boom, when the slowdown caught up, the fund flows choked, leading to defaults. Many government agencies are probing.

In Bihar, out of 166 registered credit cooperative societies, only 16 submitted their audit reports.