Bhubaneswar: A special CBI court Monday awarded three year’s rigorous imprisonment to Feroz Khan, Managing Director of Safex Infra India Pvt Ltd and slapped a penalty of `15,000 on Khan in the multi-crore chit fund scam. He has to undergo additional imprisonment of six months if fails to pay the penalty. The court also directed Safex Infra India, the chit fund firm, to pay `12 crore as fine which will be distributed among the unpaid depositors. Earlier, Khan had pleaded guilty for the crime before the court Saturday.
The convict’s lawyer requested the court to show leniency towards Khan in view of his ‘socio-economic condition’ and health condition as well as the period of detention in jail.
Sahid Nagar police arrested Khan from a hideout in Jayadev Vihar March 20, 2016. Later, police handed over Khan to the central agency. He allegedly collected around `25 crore from depositors by promising them lucrative returns over their investments.
Notably, when he was on the run, a designated court at Cuttack had ordered the auction of the immovable properties of Safex Infra India limited worth `1.55 crore. The court had directed the state government to distribute the sales proceeds among the duped investors. However, the auction could not proceed as no bidder came forward to buy around 12 acre land of the company reportedly in Ganjam district.
It is also to be noted here that the central agency had raided around 14 places across the state where Safex Infra had its offices. It also raided the houses of the directors of the company including Khan during the probe.
Keeping in view the gravity of the offences and the manner in which it was committed and its impact on the society, this court is not inclined to permit relaxation of punishment in the case.
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