Chit fund CMD held on charge of duping investors

BHUBANESWAR: The Chairman and Managing Director of a chit fund company was arrested by Odisha's Crime Branch today on charges of duping investors of over Rs 50 crore.

Deb Kumar Panda, CMD of Vista Management Services Ltd, was arrested by a team of the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Crime Branch from the railway station here, Superintendent of Police of EOW, Rajendra Patnaik said.

Panda was apprehended when he was on way to Visakhapatnam by train and was then supposed to fly to Singapore, Patnaik said, adding, Panda's passport, visa, air ticket, hotel booking receipt and foreign currency were seized.

The ponzi scheme firm, which operated in several districts, including Kalahandi, Balangir, Sambalpur and Sundargarh, had allegedly duped depositors of about Rs 50 crore by promising lucrative returns, he said.

The arrest was made following complaint by investors from different areas, particularly in western Odisha, recently, police said.

Meanwhile, Congress stalwart and leader of Opposition Narasingha Mishra demanded concrete steps to ascertain alleged involvement of political leaders in the activities of the ponzi scheme company.