The State Government on Saturday announced to set up a Fast Track Court to dispose of the cases relating to the multi-crore frauds committed by unscrupulous financial entities, including the chit fund companies, by duping millions of investors in the State in six months’ time, said Finance Minister Prasanna Acharya.
However, he was mum on the alleged complicity of political leaders, including Ministers and ruling BJD MlAs in the chit fund scams.
Addressing a Press conference after a high-level meeting on the chit fund scams, Acharya said it was decided to establish a Fast Track Court pending the Presidential assent to the Odisha Protection of Interest of Depositors (in Financial Establishment) Bill 2011 to hear the chit fund scam-related cases.
Special Public Prosecutors would be appointed to ensure speedy disposal of the cases in a time-bound manner so as to refund the money invested by the affected persons within six months, he said.
He said the Government would confiscate the movable and immovable properties of the fraudulent financial companies to refund the investors’ money and take stern legal actions against the erring promoters. If the money available out of the confiscation of the properties would not meet the investors’ dues, the State Government would consider providing required funds from its exchequer, he said, ruling out the possibility of a corpus fund for the purpose.
Pending the implementation of the Act, action would be taken against the culprits as pr the provisions of the IPC and CRPC, he said.
Acharya said that after the chit fund scams were exposed, the Government haa taken immediate steps against the tainted financial establishments.
So far, the police, Crime Branch and Economic Offence Wing of the Crime Branch have registered 207 cases against 109 companies and arrested 176 persons.
So far, it is revealed that the 24 chit fund companies, against whom the Economic Offence Wing has initiated probe, are involved in scams to the tune of Rs 1,575 core. Seven cases are registered against Sahara Credit Cooperative Society, Swastik India Multi-state Credit Cooperative Society and Artha Tatwa Credit Cooperative Society.
Acharya, however, rejected the demand for conducting any other probe into the chit fund scam for maintaining transparency and said that the Crime Branch is doing the inquiry with all fairness.
Asked whether the Government would make the names of the Ministers, MlAs and other politicians and mediapersons whose were alleged recipients of slush money from Artha Tatwa CMD Pradip Sethi, the Finance Minister kept mum.
The Government has not received any preliminary report from the Crime Branch on the issue, he said and added that if required the political leaders in question could be brought into the process of investigation.
To a question that Chief Minister Naveen Patbnaik was involved in the fraud as he had shared dais with the fraudulent promoters like Seashore, Acharya said that linking the Chief Minister is a political immorality on the part of the opposition political leaders.