On Wednesday, an OPID court in Cuttack issued an order allowing the properties owned by the Artha Tatwa Chit Fund Company, which was implicated in a multi-million dollar scam, to be attached. The court ordered the relevant authorities to seize the company’s assets, which included eleven pricey, opulent cars, a bank deposit of Rs 2.17 crore, and 110 acres of land in Bhubaneswar and other locations. According to government counsel Subrat Kumar Mohanty, a court order will be cited in the auction of the attached properties and the proceeds will be returned to the losers.
“Besides Rs 2.17 crore bank deposit, the court ordered the attachment of 110 acres of landed properties recorded in the name of Artha Tatwa group MD Pradip Sethy and other directors of the company. The lands are located in Bhubaneswar and adjacent areas and other districts including Ganjam, Balasore, Angul and others,” Mohanty added.
These properties were purchased in the name of Sethy and other directors with the public funds which were collected from the people through different schemes, he said. After an inquiry, the finance department of the State government issued an attachment order based on which the then-designated officer filed a case in OPID court, the lawyer said.
“During the hearing of the case, we submitted 113 documents and proofs of bank deposits. The statements of the Investigating officer and the designated officer were recorded during the hearing. Based on the evidence, the court has ordered the government to attach the properties,” Mohanty informed.
The properties will be auctioned in the public and money fetched from the auction and bank deposit will be distributed among the investors, he maintained.
