3-Year Jail Term For Kolkata-Based Ponzi Firm’s Branch Manager In Odisha

Balasore: A special OPID court in Odisha’s Balasore has sentenced Kolkata Weir Industries Ltd’s Udala branch manager, Sangram Keshari Patra, to three years of imprisonment for defrauding depositors.He had also been fined Rs 61,000.The chit fund company, having its registered office at Diamond Harbour, had mobilised about Rs 48 crore from more than one lakh investors through issuance of ‘redeemable preference shares’ in West Bengal, Odisha and Jharkhand. It went ahead with its operations despite being an unlisted company. Accordingly, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) served a notice to its promoters and directors in August 2013 to refund the money raised from public and also barred the company and its promoters/ directors from accessing the securities market for more than three years.