Rs 123 crore-scam: West Bengal woman, daughter arrested by Odisha EOW 

In a significant breakthrough in one of the largest financial frauds in recent years, the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Odisha Crime Branch on Wednesday claimed to have achieved a major success by arresting two persons- Dwipika Bhanjo and her daughter from West Bengal in connection with a ponzi scheme and on the charges of duping investors to the tune of Rs 123 crore.

The mother-daughter duo was arrested on May 20 from Bidhan Nagar in Kolkata and has been brought to Odisha on a three-day transit remand.

About The Case 

A case was earlier registered based on the complaint filed by one Manmohan Dora of Bhubaneswar against Harit Krishi Nidhi Ltd., M/s Transvision Dream Multi Trade Pvt. Ltd., and its Director Tushar Bhanjo. The complainant had alleged that the above had induced him and many other investors to invest in his company for high returns, like a monthly interest of 11% on the invested amount, apart from 4-5 % extra commission on adding new members.

The Company also promised to provide a monthly salary of Rs.4,000 on investment of Rs.4 lakhs, Rs.8,000 on investment of Rs.8 lakhs, and so on.

The Scam Begins

After being induced, the complainant joined the Harit Krishi Nidhi Company as a member by depositing Rs. 4,000 in the year 2023. Subsequently, the informant deposited Rs.2 lakhs in the Company’s bank account, after which he opened three wallet IDs in which he had deposited a total Rs.2.17 lakhs and got 11% interest only for one month. Thereafter, no amount was paid to him by the accused Director Tusar Bhanjo, who absconded with the invested amount of thousands of investors, including the complainant, the EOW officials said in a statement.

What Probe Revealed?

The accused Tusar Bhanjo, arrested earlier in the case, had formed M/s Transvision Dream Multi Trade Pvt. Ltd. registered with the Registrar of Companies, Cuttack, and opened Harit Krishi Nidhi Ltd. in the year 2023, which was incorporated in West Bengal. 
But, in violation of the Nidhi rules, he opened the offices of the Nidhi Company in Odisha, Chhattisgarh, and Assam, even if the Nidhi Company was not allowed to operate beyond the State of its incorporation. Further, chit fund activities, although prohibited in Nidhi Company, yet he ran the Ponzi scheme by inducing investors and promising them higher interest, apart from offering substantial commission for arranging new investors.

A Nidhi Company is a kind of NBFC formed to borrow and lend money to its members only and is dependent on the principle of mutual benefits. It instills the habit of saving among its members.

In this way, the accused in connivance with others collected more than Rs.123 crore from around 34,000 investors of Odisha, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Assam, Tripura, Maharashtra and even in Bangladesh.

EOW informed that the Director absconded with the collected amount from the investors and misappropriated the same by diverting it to other interested accounts, including the accounts of his presently arrested accused persons. Even money was siphoned off to Bangladesh and China.

Harit Krishi Nidhi Ltd. is having 03 accounts maintained with Axis Bank, Yes Bank and Bandhan Bank of which accused Tusar Bhanjo and the arrested accused Tandra Bhanjo are the authorized signatories.

It came to light that an amount of Rs.43.67 lakhs has been transferred from the accounts of Harit Krishi Nidhi Ltd. to the personal account of Tandra Bhanjo. Similarly, an amount of Rs.41 lakhs has been credited to the personal account of arrested accused Dwipika Bhanjo from the accounts of Harit Krishi Nidhi Ltd. Again, Dwipika Bhanjo was the initial Director of Harit Krishi Nidhi Ltd., having a shareholding of 1000.

Accused Enjoyed Foreign Trips

The said amount collected from investors was invested in Forex Trading by opening a pool account by the Company with the motive to get a return of an additional 20% on the invested amount, which the investors were not aware of. As found, the arrested accused Tusar Bhanjo had made pleasant trips to Dubai and Bangkok from the invested money of the investors, the EOW said.