Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Economic Offences Wing (EOW) has arrested a Chartered Accountant and his wife from Noida in Uttar Pradesh in connection with a Rs 20 crore fraud case.

The accused couple have been identified as Chandra Sekhar Sahoo and Jharana Sahoo of the Anandapur area in Keonjhar district. The duo was arrested on December 12 in EOW Police Station Case No. 18/25, registered on December 8, on the basis of a complaint lodged by Jayant Mishra, an employee with MCL, Balanda, Talcher.

During the course of the investigation, police found that the accused Chandra Sekhar Sahoo, who earlier worked as a Chartered Accountant with MCL, Talcher, later resigned from the job and opened a company, M/s Evoreach Ventures Pvt. Ltd., in 2021. 

Chandra Sekhar was the Managing Director, while his wife Jharana was one of the Directors of the company.

“Subsequently, he converted the Company from Private Limited to Public Limited and floated different unregulated deposit schemes illegally promising high returns to the investors. He was mainly inducing the investors to double the invested amount in 30 months by paying 30 equal returns every month,” informed EOW sources.

The complainant Jayant Mishra also claimed that, being induced by the accused duo, he and his wife had invested more than Rs 1.05 crore in various schemes of M/s Evoreach Ventures Pvt. Ltd. between February 2022 and February 2024.

The accused Chandra Sekhar also collected different amounts from various persons, not only for investment in his company but also for share trading with Octa FX and many other trading companies.

He mentioned to investors that the collected amounts were being reinvested in real estate, retail mart, pearl culture, fish farming and hotel business, among others. However, the investors’ money was being deposited both in the account of M/s Evoreach Ventures Pvt. Ltd. as well as in the personal accounts of the Directors.

To deceive investors, the accused Directors distributed colourful brochures containing lucrative schemes promising high returns. The investors were also issued certificates and bonds fraudulently to win their confidence.

After paying the promised returns initially for a very few months to some investors, the accused Directors closed the company offices at Handidhua in Talcher and Patia in Bhubaneswar, and subsequently absconded.

“Believing in the accused Directors, a large number of investors, not only from Orissa but also from other parts of the nation like Bangalore, Madras, Delhi, etc., invested huge amounts through the schemes floated by the Company.” 

“As ascertained, the accused Directors have collected around 20 Crores fraudulently from hundreds of investors in the name of share trading and investment through the unregulated deposit schemes of the company Evoreach Ventures Pvt. Ltd. and other companies like Stolax India Pvt. Ltd. and Evoreach Nidhi Ltd,” added EOW sources.