DEO files 1st charge-sheet against chit fund company

The Directorate of Economic Offences (DEO) of Bengal filed its first charge-sheet against a chit fund company in Barasat Court on Monday.

The DEO, that exercises its power under the West Bengal Protection of Interest of Depositors in Financial Establishments Act (WBPIDFEA), 2013 has filed a charge-sheet against Equinox Group mentioning four of its directors, including Prasanta Chakraborty, by name.

The DEO has registered cases against seven financial companies including Alchemist Group, Rose Valley Group, Icore Jewellery, Gems and Equinox Infratech for not returning money to people as promised by them while collecting funds through various chit fund schemes.

Within 90 days of registering a case to probe into the scam committed by Equinox Group, the DEO has filed the charge-sheet before the Additional District Sessions Judge, Third Court, Barasat. At the same time, the requisite legal steps are also being taken to return the money to investors in accordance with the provisions of the WBPIDFEA, 2013.

Investigation revealed that the Equinox Group with its registered office at Naihati in North 24 Parganas and 13 sister companies had come into existence in 2009. The group had collected around Rs 155 crore from around 1,38,981 depositors in Bengal, Maharastra, Karanataka, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand.

The group had stopped paying returns on investment from 2013 onwards and a complaint was lodged against it.