AT chit fund scam: Spl CBI Court to frame charges against 21 accused

Bhubaneswar: The Special CBI court here may frame charges against 21 accused in the Artha Tatwa chit fund scam, today. The accused include a few politicians, MLAs, businessmen and mass media owners.

It may be mentioned that the CBI court had yesterday sentenced Artha Tatwa Group chief Pradeep Sethy to 7-year jail term in connection with the firm’s involvement in the multi-crore chit fund scam in Odisha. Similarly Artha Tatwa director Manoj Patnaik, was awarded four years of imprisonment.

While Sethy was asked to pay a fine of Rs 30,000, failing which he will be facing six more months of imprisonment, Patnaik was fined with Rs 10,000.

According to sources, the court has directed the group to deposit Rs 250 crore.

Sethy and Patnaik had confessed to their crime before the CBI court on Wednesday. Prior to that, both of them had pleaded guilty and informed the court in writing.

Notably, Artha Tatwa has reportedly duped people of over Rs 500 crore. Along with Sethy, 20 employees of the group have been arrested.