Odisha court allows Seashore chief to be produced in Khordha court on Oct 28

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Jeypore, Oct 24:

The Chief Judicial Magistrate’s court here today allowed Prashant Dash, Chairman-cum-Managing Director (CMD) of Seashore Group of Companies, one of the prime accused in the mega chit fund scam in Odisha, to be produced before Khordha sessions court on October 28.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had moved the Khordha sessions court on September 19 seeking Dash’ remand to trace the money trail of deposits collected by the company.

During the course of its hearing in the case, the Khordha sessions court had directed the superintendent of the Jeypore jail, where Dash is currently lodged, to produce him before it .

On September 26, the CBI, which is probing into the mega chit fund scam in the state under orders from the Supreme Court, had raided eight premises of Seashore in Dhenkanal and Baleswar districts to collect evidence against the group.

The day before, the CBI had raided 29 places, including the houses Prashant Dash at Jharpada in Bhubaneswar, a senior official of the company and former director of STV Gopal Chandra Sahu at Sarua near Khordha and another senior official at Bharatpur in the state capital.

It may be noted that while 6.5 lakh people were duped of Rs 4,375 crore between January 2012 and June 2013 by several chit fund companies, the Seashore Group alone is accused of embezzling over Rs 1,500 crore worth of deposits from thousands of people across the state.

Established in 2005-06, the Seashore conglomerate forayed into a host of fields including money circulation, real estate, and gold trading.

The firm executed several projects in partnership with the state government, fuelling allegations of possible patronage given to the firm by some ruling party politicians.

Dash was arrested from Mumbai on June 19, 2013 and has been implicated in 37 cheating cases in various police stations across the state.