BHUBANESWAR: The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Crime Branch arrested the chairman and managing director of Mass Infra Realty Limited Pratap Kumar Biswal from Kolkata's posh New Garia location for allegedly cheating investors in Odisha to the tune of Rs 15 crore.
The EOW had registered a case against Biswal and the company's six other directors on August 30, 2019, based on the complaint of Sukadev Hota of Balasore district's Soro.
In the complaint, Hota had alleged that the accused had collected crores of rupees from several investors under the company's various schemes on the promise of providing them higher returns on their deposited amounts.
The investigation revealed that Mass Infra was registered with Registrars of Companies, Kolkata, in September 2010. It had its registered office under Barasat police limits in West Bengal.
In 2012, the firm's name was changed to Human Welfare Credit and Thrift Co-operative Society limited and it was registered under the Multi-State Co-operative Societies Act.
Human Welfare Credit's registered office was at Laxmi Nagar in Delhi and Biswal was its president.
"Mass Infra represented through its managing director Pratap Kumar Biswal and other directors had allured the general public with false promises of providing a high rate of interest on their deposited amounts under different schemes of the company. They had unauthorisedly collected huge amounts of money from several investors and later they closed their offices and fled," said an EOW officer.
Biswal was apprehended on Sunday and produced before Chief Judicial Magistrate in South 24 Parganas. He was brought on transit remand to Odisha on Monday.
The accused was produced before a designated court in Balasore under the Odisha Protection of Interests of Depositors (in Financial Establishments) Act, said the EOW officer.