Ponzi firm head nabbed for Rs 2 crore fraud

BHUBANESWAR :  The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Crime Branch has arrested the director of ponzi firm Inter Occean Videsh limited, Dillip Kumar Jain from Uttar Pradesh’s Bareilly for cheating investors in Odisha to the tune of Rs 2 crore.

An investor Laxmi Narayan Patra of Talcher had lodged a complaint in EOW against Inter Occean’s directors alleging unauthorised collection of Rs 2 crore from people under different deposit schemes and non-payment of maturity amount. 

The agency had registered a case on April 22, 2016. Dillip, a native of Bikaner, was absconding since the registration of the case. On receiving information about his presence in New Delhi, a team of EOW officers reached the national capital on July 21. With the help of local police, EOW sleuths managed to arrest him from Bareilly on Wednesday. 

He is being brought to Odisha on transit remand. Investigation revealed that Inter Occean is registered with Registrar of Companies in Cuttack and had its registered office in Bhubaneswar and branch offices in other parts of the State. 

The company along with its sister concerns - Alpine Fin Corp limited, Inter Occean Impex private limited and Inter Occean Retail India limited- had unauthorisedly collected public deposits amounting to Rs 2 crore between 2010 and 2013 by promising higher returns on investments into  various schemes.

However, the directors of the companies shut down their offices and fled in January, 2013 without repaying the monthly returns and the principal amount of the investors. EOW had earlier arrested two other directors - Sunita Samal and Manoranjan Ray - in connection with the case.