Guwahati: CBI has filed five chargesheets in five separate cases against 18 accused before a special CBI court in Guwahati in connection with the multi-crore unregulated deposit scam in Assam. The accused include 16 private individuals and two organisations: Upepithets Holdings Pvt Ltd (UHPL), and Brahmaputra Sanchay & Biniyog Cooperative Society Ltd (BSBCSL).
One of the chargesheets names Upepithets Holdings Pvt Ltd, its director Hemen Rava, and manager Sankar Saha. This case, registered in Oct, marks a significant development in the investigation into a large-scale financial fraud, filed within the 90-day period following the arrests.
The investigation, initiated at the behest of the Assam govt, began with a case registered at Tezpur police station in Sept. Rava was accused of engaging in a financial scam that violated RBI/SEBI guidelines. "It was alleged that he induced the general public to enter notarised loan agreements with promises of substantial returns on investments. He purportedly misappropriated the funds for his personal gains, thereby defrauding his clients, the general public, who fell prey to his scheme," CBI stated.
The CBI's investigation uncovered substantial evidence against the two accused and their firm. "Investigation established that the accused were involved in orchestrating an illegal deposit scheme that solicited funds from investors under false pretences. They utilised deceptive means, including notarised stamp papers, to entice investors with the promise of guaranteed monthly returns of 6% and above. They deceived the investors and misappropriated the deposits for their personal gains," CBI said.
Second chargesheet was filed against five accused – four individuals and a cooperative society: Biniyog Cooperative Society Ltd. This case, initially registered at Azara police station in Sept, involved deposits collected by Brahmaputra Sanchay & Biniyog Cooperative Society under the scheme "Grihalakshmi". Investors were enticed with promises of substantial returns, which were subsequently misappropriated by the accused.
Further investigation revealed that the accused promoted an unregulated deposit scheme of Brahmaputra Sanchay & Biniyog Cooperative Society. They participated in various meetings with agents and potential depositors, soliciting deposits by promoting high returns and agent commissions without any viable business model. They made false promises of returns up to 15% annually, alluring depositors to invest substantial sums of their hard-earned money.
The third chargesheet was filed against four individuals from Baksa district -- Mainao Brahma, Dipankar Bhatta, Jyotisman Sarma, and Sumit Barman. Initially registered at Mushalpur police station, the investigation established that the accused conspired to operate unregulated deposit schemes, defrauding the public and diverting or misappropriating their money for personal use, including purchasing properties, constructing buildings, and buying vehicles.
The fourth chargesheet was filed against Rishiraj Gogoi and Joy Modak in a separate case initially registered at Geetanagar police station in Guwahati. The CBI stated that the accused were involved in running a stock trading business through their company "Go Millions LLP", formed for selling various cosmetics and other products. "The investigation established that they conspired to collect deposits from the public via UPI and bank accounts without depositing the amount in any regulated scheme," CBI said.
The fifth chargesheet was filed against Sankar Kumar Biswas, Rofiqul Islam, Dinesh Ch Ray, and Niranjan Kumar Malakar in a case initially registered at Dhubri police station. The investigation revealed that the accused conspired to collect deposits through UPI, cash, or cheques for investments in Titan Capital Market without depositing, investing, or trading the amount in any regulated scheme. "They defrauded depositors by collecting money for investments without returning the amount," the CBI statement said.
These cases are among 41 unregulated deposit scheme scam cases transferred to the CBI by the state govt.