The Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the CBI on Saturday filed a 276-page preliminary chargesheet against Seashore group CMD Prashant Dash, his brother and Seashore Securities ltd director Pravat Dash and middleman Subhankar Nayak in the Special CBI court here in the mega chit fund scam case.
The chargesheet, which also accused the company of swindling Rs 578.20 crore, has slapped charges on the accused under several Sections of the IPC including 120 (B), 409, 420 and Sections 4, 5, 6 of the Prize Chit and Money Circulation (Banning) Act, 1978. Besides, the chargesheet, which contained the depositions of 456 witnesses, has also accused two companies, Seashore Securities and Seashore Fund Management, of cheating investors and collecting money from them after promising high returns on their deposits. This apart, the investigating agency has also slapped charges on 13 cooperative societies run by the company.
This was the fifth preliminary chargesheet filed by the CBI in connection with the mega chit fund scam in the State. Notably, the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Crime Branch had arrested Prashant Das from Mumbai on June 20, 2013 on the charges of cheating, illegal financial transactions and siphoning off the depositors’ money before the case was handed over to the CBI following a Supreme Court order. On November 18 last year, the CBI had arrested Subhankar while Pravat Dash was arrested on January 24 for allegedly embezzling company funds to the tune of Rs 3 crore.