Odisha chit fund scam: Commission compiles list of small investors

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Bhubaneswar, Oct 18:

Justice MM Das Commission of Inquiry on Odisha chit fund scam has completed the task of forming a list of small investors that have deposited a maximum of Rs 10,000 with the chit fund companies.

The commission would soon submit an interim report to the government to brief it of the progress made so far in its investigation and compilation of data of duped investors.

justice MM Das

Out of all the affidavits submitted to the commission, verification of 8.17 lakh affidavits and scanning of 7.22 lakh affidavits have been completed. The list of small investors has been prepared based on the available data.

In the first phase, the commission had served notice to Seashore Group of Companies and the Artha Tatwa (AT) Group and the list of small investors from these companies have been handed over to the representatives of these companies.

As per the commission, a field investigation may be carried out based on the data of these companies. The commission would recommend the State Government to start the process of payment to these small investors only after the field investigation is over.

“The commission would constitute a committee with the help of the government to verify the authenticity of the claimants by examining their documents and affidavits on the spot. The commission would recommend the government to initiate the process of payment once that task is accomplished,” said Justice Das.

The investors, however, are not enthused. While most were vocal about their frustration, some others termed it as methods to buy even more time.

“It has been four years since I was duped by Sea Shore. There are many others like me in our slum. We have been staging demonstrations and doing all that we can to get back our hard earned money. The company claims that the government has seized its assets and that the government would pay us back. The government, however, has been making promises and doing big legal things that we are unable to comprehend with our limited knowledge. All that I understand is, the pre-election promise of giving us back our money has not been fulfilled,” said Asoka Sahu, a chit fund scam victim from Bhubaneswar.

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