One more chit fraud! Vista dupes depositors of Rs 40 cr

One more case of financial fraud worth Rs 40 crore has been added to the scores of chit fund scams in Odisha. The depositors and investors of Nuapada district have drawn the attention of the Government to this fraud and demanded action against the company, Vista Management Services ltd. In a memorandum sent to the Chief Minister, the complainants have said the Vista has cheated them of their hard earned money by introducing share certificates, monthly income plans and fixed deposit schemes.

The investors have said they had invested in the company with the hope to get more benefit. Purna Chandra Sahu, a primary school teacher of Khariar, had invested Rs 7 lakh with the company. “I had invested all my saving in the company and now the company has vanished,” he lamented. A number of teachers like Sahu who had invested their lifelong savings with the company, are now in a state of hopelessness as the company has closed the branch in the town.

“The company has cheated us through attractive websites/booklets/advertisements and assurances and by getting different branches opened and inaugurated by Ministers and MlAs,” the complainants have said. It is learnt that all the certificates, bonds, notarised agreements, etc., provided by the company are forged. “Now, when we inquire the about the invested money we find that forged and false certificates have been issued to us putting original signatures and seals,” the depositors have mentioned in the complaint.

The investors are now blaming the Government. “The Government gave a free hand to the company to cheat the investors without any check and balance. Hence, the Government is solely liable to reply to the investors,” they have mentioned. The investors have demanded action against Vista chief managing director (CMD) Dev Kumar Panda of Jaipatna and four other directors  Fayaz Khan of Cuttack; Bijaya Kumar Swain of Vani Vihar, Bhubaneswar; Manoj Kumar Pattnaik of Manoharpur, Balangir; and Biranchi Narayan Mishra of Industrial Estate, Balangir.