BHUBANESWAR: In a significant judgment, a Special CBI court on Thursday convicted Artha Tatwa (AT) Group chief Pradeep Sethy and his associate Manoj Patnaik in the multi-hundred crore ponzi scam which had rocked the State.
The Court of Special Chief Judicial Magistrate (CBI) Prashant Kumar Mishra sentenced Sethy to seven years in jail and `30,000 as penalty. Patnaik was awarded a four-year jail term and `10,000 in penalty.
Both the accused had pleaded guilty before the court on Wednesday. The CBI Court also directed the AT Group chief to deposit `250 crore failing which the company assets would be attached.
Sethy was chairman-cum-managing director of the AT Group while Patnaik was a director of the firm. The court ordered that Sethy would have to spend another six months in jail if he fails to pay the fine.
The CBI had submitted chargesheets against the two on December 11, 2014 under Sections 120 (B), 406, 409, 411, 420, 468, 471 of the Indian Penal Code and Sections 4,5 and 6 of the Prize Chits and Money Circulation Schemes (Banning) Act.
The probe agency went to file two more chargesheets in connection with the AT Group scam later. A computer science diploma holder from Ganjam, Sethy had started AT Group in 2010. He floated companies as well as multi-state cooperative societies and collected huge sums from small investors whom he had promised returns in the range of 15 per cent to 20 per cent.
Sethy went on to accumulate huge assets - both movable and immovable - in course of time but defaulted payments to the investors. He had even invested in an entertainment firm in Mumbai. He also indulged in a lavish lifestyle.
Both Sethy and Patnaik first confessed to the charges against them and the ponzi firm in December 2016 and submitted it in writing to the court through the Jail Superintendent. On Wednesday, during production before the court, they pleaded guilty again. Since Sethy headed Artha Tatwa Multi-Purpose Cooperative Society Ltd, Artha Tatwa Multi-state Credit Cooperative Society Ltd, Artha Tatwa Infra India Ltd and Artha Tatwa Enterprises Pvt Ltd, as submitted in the CBI chargesheet, he was asked to pay the compensation of `250 crore.
Earlier in the day, the CBI Court had ordered production of the two accused.
In May 2013, Sethy along with four directors of the firm were arrested by Bhubaneswar-Cuttack Commissionerate of Police and has been in jail since then. After the Supreme Court asked the CBI to probe into 44 ponzi firms in Odisha, West Bengal and other States that the AT Group scam was taken over by the Central agency.