Sambalpur: A 42-year-old man was arrested by police for his alleged involvement in a large-scale investment scam in Sambalpur.
Santosh Acharya, a resident of Mauli Nagar of Kuluthkani in Sambalpur, who claimed to be an authorized agent of MCXCT, had been operating a fraudulent investment scheme since 2013, attracting over 500 investors with promises of high and assured returns.
According to the complainant, Debabrata Panigrahi, Acharya had launched an investment programme, providing formal commitments, including fixed deposit bonds and login certificates, to investors. Initially, Acharya provided periodic returns to maintain trust and encourage further investment. However, from February 2024, he stopped making returns, citing financial constraints, and failed to provide any justification or supporting documents.
The estimated amount of fraud is believed to be in hundreds of crores, with investors demanding the return of their principal amounts. Sambalpur Police arrested Acharya on February 25, 2025, and brought him on remand on March 4, 2025. During the remand period, police extracted vital evidence from him.
During the investigation, the police searched Acharya’s house and office under videography, in the presence of an executive magistrate. Furthermore, analysis of his bank accounts revealed multiple suspicious transactions. Police also froze 58 accounts having a transaction of a total 81.20 lakhs.
Police also seized several articles from him including a Mobile Phone, documents related to amount deposit by investors (Fixed Deposit Certificate/ Bond, Assurance letters to investors from MCX Commodities Trading Co, welcome letters to investors from MCX Commodities Trading Co, Promissory notes, etc), Computer System (desktop) , two cash counting machine, welcome letters along with bond and connected documents, 23 Cancelled check/ bounce check of different banks and several other bank related documents with a colour printer.
