EOW seeks Odisha govt nod to attach assets of Ponzi firm

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Bhubaneswar, Apr 19:

The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Odisha Crime Branch police today wrote to the Finance Department seeking its approval to attach the property of Ponzi firm AB Realtech Services Ltd.

EOW sought permission to attach half an acre of land owned by the company under Sec 3 of the Odisha Protection of Interests of Depositors (in Financial Establishments) Act, 2011, sources said.

It may be recalled that the MD of the company Budi Keshabananda Patra was arrested by EOW from Visakhapatnam in June last year.

Patra was booked under sections 120 (B) (criminal conspiracy), 406 (criminal breach of trust), 467 (forgery of valuable security), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating), 471 (forging documents), 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and sections 4, 5 and 6 of the Prize Chits and Money Circulation Schemes (Banning) Act 1978 and section 6 of the Odisha Protection of Interests of Depositors (OPID) Act- 2011.

Patra was accused of duping investors to the tune of Rs 5 crore by promising them high returns on their invested money.

AB Realtech Services Ltd, headquartered in Bhubaneswar, was registered in 2010 and collected money from investors from across the state. After operating its business for over five years, the company pulled its shutters down without repaying the investors.

Based on a complaint lodged in January 2014, EOW was on the lookout for Patra who was absconding since the police complaint was filed against him and other officials of the company.

Patra, a native of Badabazar area in Berhampur, was holed up in a hotel in Visakhapatnam under a fake identity. The EOW nabbed him from the coastal town last year.