Bhubaneswar: A special Odisha Protection of Interests of Depositors (OPID) Court in Cuttack on Thursday awarded five years imprisonment to Sambit Das, Managing Director of ‘Sai Samrudhi Realcon India Limited’, a Ponzi firm.
The court sentenced Das to five years of imprisonment under section 420 of the IPC and for another five years of imprisonment under section 6 of the OPID Act for duping depositors.
However, the court has ruled that both sentences will run concurrently.
The court has ordered Das to pay a fine of Rs 1 lakh. In addition to this, the court has ordered the company to pay a fine of Rs 2 lakh.
The court has said that on failure to pay the penalty amount Das will have to undergo imprisonment for one more year.
In 2015 Das had floated a chit fund company in the name and style of ‘Sai Samrudhi Realcon India Limited’. The company had collected deposits by luring investors with a promise to double their amount in four years.
The company had issued post-dated cheques to the investors with the maturity value. The cheques issued by the company bounced after investors deposited those in the bank upon maturity. Several investors had filed complaints at the Puri Ghat police station in Cuttack in this regard.
Following an investigation, the police had filed chargesheets against the company and Das who was absconding. Later Das was arrested by the police.
