BHUBANESWAR: If Artha Tatwa Group mopped up `201 crore as deposits by duping the public, at least `15 crore __ or 8 per cent of it __ went to the pockets of builders, brokers and at least one politician and a Mumbai-based model as largesse.
The 233-page preliminary chargesheet of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), a copy of which hit the media circle on Monday, shows that Pravat Tripathy, the suspended Biju Janata Dal MLA from Banki, received at least `42 lakh for showing favour to the firm and its chief Pradeep Sethy.
Tripathy allegedly used his clout as president of Odisha State Cooperative Union (OSCU) to get Sethy the Best Youth Cooperator Award in a span of 15 days of registration of the latter’s firm in 2010. Besides, he also demanded that Sethy finance Banki Mahotsav.
Among the beneficiaries of AT Group, the four-time MLA was the “least paid,” just above land broker Dharmendra Bothra, who made `30 lakh for a land deal.
However, it is the builders who made a fortune out of their association with the tainted firm and the scamster Sethy. Vineet Lalani, a Director with several sister firms of AT Group as well as Orisons Mining and Minerals Pvt Ltd, received a whopping ` 3.28 crore.
The CBI probe revealed that Lalani got `1.53 crore transferred to the account of SP Enterprises and another `1.75 crore to the account of Amit Kalra. Kalra was an employee of Lalani and so was Arvind Bothra, the authorised signatory for SP Enterprises. These two accounts were operated by Lalani himself.
Another Director of Orisons Group of Companies, Sagar Ray, had a humble beginning in life. He is even reported to have dabbled in broiler business for sometime before hitting it big in real estate and mining. He received `3.16 crore in his personal account from AT Group and another `17.64 lakh through a sister concern of his firm towards sale of vehicles. The CBI found that the entire money was parked in Ray’s accounts for misappropriation purposes only.
Dilip Mohanty, another builder and associate of Ray, purchased a plot belonging to AT Group for `94.77 lakh through Congress leader Rajat Choudhury, who had power of attorney for the property. The land documents were executed but Mohanty never actually paid the amount which he kept for himself.
The chargesheet says Mumbai-based stock-broker Deepak Pareek, a Director with several of AT Group’s sister companies, made `1 crore from the tainted firm but could never explain the transfer of such a huge amount of money.
Similarly, model Preeti Bhatia frequented AT Group’s office and attended board meetings since she was a Director of an entertainment firm in which Sethy had invested heavily. The probe revealed that at least ` 1.17 crore was diverted to her personal account without any justification.
Former Advocate General Ashok Mohanty, the only one of the 16 accused who is out on bail, has been charged with failing to explain the `31 lakh which he allegedly did not pay Sethy after purchasing the ` 1.01 crore CDA property for `70 lakh. He is also accused of facilitating anticipatory bail of Sethy in 2012 when he was facing criminal charges.
Another accused, Ranjan Das, head of Swastik India, was an advisor with AT Group for a monthly remuneration of `30,000 per month for six months. However, he ended up earning `25.55 lakh for doing nothing.
In the entire money trail detected by the CBI so far, the three media house owners had a fair share of the pie. Bikash Swain of “Suryaprava” got `1.48 crore, which was diverted to him through the accounts of his newspaper. He had the books of accounts of his company manipulated through his staff.
Similarly, Madhu Mohanty, who owns vernacular daily ‘Odisha Bhaskar,’ made a neat `94 lakh out of which only `29.73 lakh was towards advertisement of the newspaper. He got `60 lakh in cheque and another ` 33.84 lakh in cash. Kamyab TV owner Manoj Das also received `90 lakh from AT Group which he could not explain.