A court in Kandhamal district on Thursday sentenced the chief of a chit fund scheme company to seven years’ rigorous imprisonment for duping depositors.
Besides the imprisonment, Chief Judicial Magistrate, Phulbani, Soma Sekhar Jena, also imposed a penalty of Rs 1.5 lakh on Ramesh Chandra Pradhan, proprietor of Gramya Unayan Swayam Sahayak Gosthi (GUSSG). In case of nonpayment of the fine, the convict would have to
undergo additional jail term for 17 months.
According to the prosecution, following an FIR lodged by a group of 183 people, who had deposited money in the GUSSG after being lured by its promise to multiply their deposits within months, Pradhan had been arrested on February 11, 2012.
The company had collected money to the tune of Rs 9.80 crore from 48,402 depositors in Kandhmal district during its operation period of about four years since 2008.