Sambit Das, the managing director of Sai Samrudhi Realcon India Limited, a Ponzi firm, was sentenced to five years in jail by a special Odisha Protection of Interests of Depositors (OPID) court in Cuttack on Thursday.
On charges of duping depositors, the court handed down the sentence to Das under Section 420 of the IPC and another five years term under Section 6 of the OPID Act.
“Besides jail term, the court has asked Das and his company to pay fines of Rs 1lakh and Rs 2 lakh, respectively. On failure to pay both the fines, Das has to go undergo another six months and one year of imprisonment, respectively,” informed, Subrat Mohanty, special public prosecutor, OPID court.
Setting up his company in 2015, Das had allegedly collected money from depositors with a promise to double the amount in four years. In return, he would give them post dated cheques. Upon maturity, when the depositors deposited the cheques, those got bounced.
Following this, several duped depositors had lodged complaints with the Purighat police station. After conducting an investigation, the police had submitted the charge sheet against Das, who was then on the run, and the company. Das was apprehended later.