The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Odisha Crime Branch here on Sunday arrested Deb Kumar Panda, managing director of Vista Management Services Limited, a chit fund company, which reportedly duped investors in Odisha, especially in western districts.
Panda was leaving for Visakhapatnam by train on Sunday morning when a team of EOW arrested him at the Bhubaneswar Railway Station.
He would have boarded flight for Singapore from Visakhapatnam.
The EOW team has seized his passport, VISA, Singapore Dollars, American Dollars, Indian cash and hotel booking receipt from Panda.
According to the EOW, the company had collected money from small investors by promising 2.5 per cent interest per month.
The company was said to have mopped up about Rs.50 crore from investors in Bolangir, Kalahandi, Jharsuguda, Sambalpur and Ganjam districts.
Vista Company had started its operation from Bhubaneswar in 2008 and spread its operations in western Odisha districts gradually.
Last month, Leader of Opposition in State Assembly, Narasingh Mishra, in a press conference had alleged that the company was deceiving people in name of high return and Panda had active backing of powerful political leaders of Bolangir and Kalahandi districts.
After Mr. Mishra’s press conference, the Vista MD had probably got panicked and planned to flee, the EOW sources said.
