CM ‘chief conspirator’ of Odisha chit fund scam: BJP

Reported by Santosh Jagdev
Bhubaneswar, Nov 11:

The Odisha BJP today dubbed Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik as the chief conspirator in the multi-thousand crore chit fund scam in the state currently being inquired by the CBI.

Addressing the mediapersons here today, senior BJP leader Bijay Mohapatra said, “Being the leader of the ruling party in the state, the Chief Minister has plotted the chit find scam and has backed it all the way.”

The Chief Minister should be investgated for criminal conspiracy and money laundering for conspiring to facilitate the scam in the state, Mohapatra said.

Coming down heavily on the government for its failure to ensure the return of money invested in these companies by lakhs of depositors in the state, Mohapatra said the Chief Minister and the Ministers of the BJD government are the real culprits in the scam for inking memorandum of understandings (MoUs) with chit fund firm Seashore Group, which has duped thousands of depositors in the state.

He said the signing of MoUs with the tainted company establishes the close link of the ministers and the government with the chit fund companies.

“All the organs of the government failed miserably like a patient having multi-organ failure. There is no escape route for the Chief Minister, who never tires of saying the law will take its own course. Now, the law is taking the right course in the chit fund scam,” said the BJP leader. “Don’t be afraid, face the CBI investigation,” he added.

The Chief Minister is the culprit in the scam for attending a function of Seashore and signing MoUs even after the Central Economic Intelligence Bureau (CEIB) under the Ministry of Finance informed the Odisha government in February, 2011 about illegal running of money circulation schemes by Seashore and asked for action against the company, Mohapatra alleged.