Deputy Director of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) Ashok Goutam arrived here on Thursday in connection with the ED’s ongoing investigations of the Seashore Group, a major player in the multi-crore chit fund scam in Odisha.
It may be recalled that the ED was allowed by the Khordha District and Sessions Court on October 28 to take Seashore CMD Prashant Dash on a 14-day remand for interrogation to trace the money trail.
Notably, while 6.5 lakh people have been duped of Rs4,375 crore between January 2012 and June 2013 by several chit fund companies, the Seashore Group alone is accused of swindling over Rs700 crore from the deposits collected from thousands of people across the State.
Established in 2005-06, the Seashore conglomerate forayed into a host of fields including money circulation, real estate, media and gold trading. The firm executed several projects in partnership with the State Government, fuelling allegations of possible patronage given to the firm by some ruling BJD politicians. Dash, who was arrested from Mumbai on June 19, 2013, has been implicated in as many as 37 cheating cases under various police stations.