Chit fund scam: CBI to take Midas Touch MD, Director on 4-day remand

Bhubaneswar: The Special Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) court today allowed the CBI to take Soubhagya Samal, managing director of Midas Touch Group of Companies, and his wife Nirupama Samal, Director of the company on a four-day remand for interrogation in connection with the multi-crore chit fund scam.

CBI had arrested the couple from Gotri in Vadodara district in Gujarat, with the help of the state police on June 26.

The couple had absconded since registration of the case by the Odisha Police in 2013 while the Special CBI Court, Bhubaneswar had issued a non-bailable warrant against them.

The CBI had taken over the case in 2014 and filed a charge-sheet on April 17, 2015.

It had registered a First Information Report (FIR) against Soubhagya, his wife and two sister concerns of the Midas Group of Companies— Touch Realtech Limited and Midas Touch Assets and Securities Limited— and nine others for allegedly cheating investors to the tune of Rs 16.88 crore.

All the accused were booked under charges of criminal conspiracy, cheating, criminal misappropriation of property of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and sections under Prize Chits and Money Circulation Scheme (Banning) Act.