Bhubaneswar: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested a 49-year-old man from Tamil Nadu on charges of duping hundreds of small investors in several states, including Odisha, to the tune of Rs 18.25 crore in a chitfund scam. 

The arrested has been identified as Sivakumar Gangadharan alias G. Sivakumar, the director of ponzi firm Rightmax Technotrade International Ltd.

A team of CBI officials from the regional office of the central investigating agency in Bhubaneswar arrested Sivakumar from his relative’s house in Karur in Tamil Nadu. 

Sivakumar is a native of Peelamedu area of Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu.

The Bengaluru-based chitfund firm had duped hundreds of depositors, including many from Ganjam and Gajapati districts in Odisha. The company had promised a monthly return of Rs 1,000 for 33 months on a one-time deposit of Rs 10,000.

The CBI had registered a case against the company and its directors in 2014 after receiving complaints from some of the duped investors in Odisha.

The case involved allegations of fraud, criminal conspiracy and violations of the Prize Chits and Money Circulation Schemes (Banning) Act, 1978.

Sivakumar had been evading arrest even though other directors of the chitfund firm were arrested in 2017.

The CBI had declared Sivakumar a proclaimed offender in 2019.

“The accused was arrested from Karur in Tamil Nadu yesterday and produced before the Special Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) court, which sent him to 14 days of judicial custody,” said the CBI.