Balasore: Special judge of Odisha Protection of Interest of Depositors (OPID) court Biswajit Das Thursday convicted the former branch manager of a Ponzi firm and sentenced him to three years of rigorous imprisonment (RI) and imposed a penalty of Rs 62,000 on him for duping innocent investors. The convict identified as Rohit Sahu, a resident of Badabazar of Baripada town under Mayurbhanj district, was tried under section 420, 406,120(b), and 34 of IPC and 4&5 of Prize Chits and Money Circulation Schemes (banning) Act 1978.
A case was registered against the convict and others in May, 2013 in Baripada police station following complaints from the investors. The complainants alleged they were duped by the convict, who was the branch manager of ‘Real Vision International Limited’, a multi-level marketing company having its office at Station Bazar. They alleged that the chit fund company had siphoned their hard-earned money promising lucrative offers including high returns against their deposits and other incentives.
However, subsequently, they got neither dividends nor the principal amounts. “The accused Rohit Sahu was tried under several sections of IPC and PCMCS (banning) Act. The court held him guilty and sentenced different quantum of punishment under different sections after examining 13 witnesses and 26 exhibits. “The jail terms would run concurrently. He would undergo three years RI besides a fine of Rs 62,000,” Special Public Prosecutor Pranab Kumar Panda said.