CBI files charge sheet against Ponzi firm Sastra Entp in Odisha court

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Bhubaneswar, Jul 20:

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) today filed its charge sheet against Chennai-based Ponzi firm Sastra Enterprises Pvt Ltd and its managing director V Sampath at a local court here in the Odisha capital in connection with the chit fund scam.

Sampath was arrested in May 2013 from Chennai and is currently lodged in Bargarh jail.

Earlier this month, the CBI had conducted simultaneous raids on the offices of the Ponzi firm in nine places across the country including Bhubaneswar, Baripada, and Bhadrak in Odisha.

The CBI was learnt to have seized several incriminating documents during the raids.

The Ponzi firm has duped crores of rupees from gullible investors in the state through different schemes by promising lucrative rates of interest.

The company had widespread operations especially in Balasore and Bhadrak and Mayurbhanj districts in the state. It allegedly collected crores of rupees by luring people on the pretext of hefty returns in a short span of time. It closed down offices in 2010. The company has allegedly collected over Rs 150 crores from the state alone.

In a related development, several duped depositors of another Ponzi firm Green India sat on a dharna in front of the CBI office here demanding confiscation of the firm’s properties, the arrest of the accused persons and refund of deposits.

“Green India was recognized by the state and Central governments. The firm had collected hundreds of crores of rupees from depositors both from inside the country and abroad by offering attractive rates of interest. It has also cheated people of their money in the name of providing them with plots of land. Neither it has provided plots any depositors on completion of their installments nor has it returned them their money. Very little property of the firm has been confiscated yet, we demand confiscation of properties held in the name of its directors,” said a duped depositor Prashant Sahu who was on dharna in front of the CBI office.