Bhubaneswar: Trouble mounted for Oscar chit fund company chief Prabhas Rout, who is already in police custody, after as many as 15 depositors from Maharashtra filed complaints against the director of the tainted Ponzi firm with the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Crime Branch here today.
According to sources, the chit fund company had collected money from depositors through 58 branches in Gujarat on the promise of providing high returns on deposits. Three cases are pending against the chit-fund company in the western State.
Talking to OTV, Sradha, a duped investor from Maharashtra said, “Prashant Sethi, Prabhas Rout came to us and said they will double our deposits in two years and triple it in six years. Taken in by their promise, I invested Rs 2 lakh in the company by selling my land. Now my girl is studying in class 10 and I have no money left with me for her education. We request the Odisha government to return our money; otherwise, we will not return to our state.”
“The officials of the company have also threatened us not to go to Odisha and not to file any complaint against them. They also threatened us with life,” Sradha added.
Ganesh More, another investor said, “Prabhas Chandra Rout and Muna Patra had visited our place and said they will invest our money in movies and construction business and promised us high returns. So, we invested our money in the company. We are very poor. If the company fails to return our money then we will commit suicide.”
“I am staying in Maharashtra and I have invested in the company there. Cine stars like Uttam Mohanty, Papu Pam Pam, Anubhav Mohanty and Archita went to Surat on the occasion of Oscar company’s annual function. They said Prabhas Rout is a very good person and the company is the same as government companies. Believing their words, we invested in the Ponzi firm,” said another investor.
“I have faith on the Naveen Patnaik ruling government and I hope I will get back my hard earned money,” she added.