ED attaches assets over Rs 3 crore of former Odisha MLA, media firm in ponzy scam
India Today
The assets of a former Odisha MLA and a firm worth more than Rs 3 crore were attached by the ED under PMLA in a ponzy scam case.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached assets worth Rs 3.92 crore of former Biju Janata Dal (BJD) MLA Pravat Ranjan Biswal and Media Guru Consultants Private Limited under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in a ponzy scam case, officials said. Pravat Ranjan Biswal is an ex-Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) from Odisha's Cuttack.
The firm allegedly fraudulently collected deposits from the public in the guise of issuance of preferential shares by enrolling the depositors as members of cooperative societies.
"These companies were allegedly neither registered as a Non-Banking Finance Company (NBFC) with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) nor listed in National Stock Exchange of India (NSEI) and were not authorised to collect such public deposits," the agency said.
COMPANIES FAILED TO PAY INTEREST“Subsequently, they suddenly closed down their business and defaulted in return to depositors after maturity and failed to pay even interest on the deposits despite repeated requests and approach of the depositors,” said the ED in a statement.The attached assets include a bank balance of Rs 25 lakh at State Bank of India’s Cuttack branch belonging to Pravat Ranjan Biswal and one immovable property belonging to Media Guru Consultants Private Ltd. in Uttar Pradesh’s Noida.
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The ED had initiated its investigation on the basis of the FIR and chargesheet filed by the Economic Offence Wing (EOW) of Odisha Police and the FIR and the chargesheet filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) under various sections of the Indian Penal Code against the Seashore Group of Companies which were involved in the process of money laundering.
“These companies generated proceeds of crime and diverted the tainted money into acquiring different movable and immovable properties. They fraudulently and dishonestly collected huge amount from the general public out of which Rs 25 lakh was diverted to the ex-MLA and his family members and Rs 4 Crore was diverted to Media Guru Consultants Private Ltd to set up a news channel named Stv Samachar,” said the ED in a statement.
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