Banki BJD MlA Pravat Tripathy on Tuesday appeared before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) reportedly in connection with the Artha Tatwa (AT) Group chit fund scam.
Notably, Tripathy had been arrested by the CBI on October 31, 2014 for his alleged involvement in the scam. He was granted bail by the Orissa High Court on March 3, 2015.
The CBI in its preliminary charge-sheet in the Artha Tatwa (AT) Group case had accused the MlA of receiving Rs 42 lakh from the tainted company in return for his patronage extended to it.As per the charge-sheet, Tripathy, in the capacity of President of the Odisha Cooperative Union from 2008 to 2011, had used his clout over the Assistant Registrar of Cooperative Societies to register the cooperative body ‘Artha Tatwa Multi-Purpose Cooperative Society limited’ at a short notice.