VISAKHAPATNAM: Sleuths from the economic offences wing of the Odisha police have arrested Malla Vijaya Prasad, former MLA and chairman of AP Education and Welfare Infrastructure Development Corporation (APEWIDC), in connection with a Rs 1,200 crore chit fund scam.
A special team of the Odisha CID crime branch police led by inspector TR Sahu took Vijaya Prasad into custody on Monday as part of the investigation into the cases registered against him in July 2019. The Odisha police took Vijaya Prasad to King George Hospital for medical examination before producing him before the magistrate. With the consent of the magistrate, he was taken to Bhubaneswar.
A case was filed in Odisha on July 17, 2019, under sections 420/406/467/ 468/471/ 120-B IPC and sections 4, 5, and 6 of PC and MC Schemes (banning) act 1978 and Section 8 of OPID Act 2011.
Vijaya Prasad, who was the managing director of Welfare Building and Estate Limited, was charged with being involved in a Rs 1200 crore scam in which he allegedly cheated depositors belonging to Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Telangana. The Welfare group had a monthly chit fund scheme with clients in these states. There were allegations that even after the maturity of the scheme, the depositors were not paid the matured amount.
Earlier, in 2016, following similar complaints, the CBI had conducted searches against 33 private firms, including those belonging to Vijaya Prasad. His houses and properties were also searched and an unspecified amount was seized.
Vijaya Prasad, who was with the Congress and served as MLA in Visakhapatnam, later shifted loyalties and joined YSRC. In 2019, he contested the elections on a YSRC ticket for Visakhapatnam West Assembly constituency but suffered defeat at the hands of TDP candidate PVGR Naidu. He was recently made chairman of APEWIDC.