ED attaches assets Rs 23 cr of Artha Tatwa group

Bhubaneswar, Dec 30 (IANS) The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday attached assets of Odisha-based Artha Tatwa group, its Managing Director P. K. Sethy and others in a chit fund scam.

"ED attaches assets worth Rs 23 crore of Artha Tatwa Group, P.K.Sethy and others in chit fund scam in Odisha. Total attachment now is Rs 107 crore," an ED official said.

Sethy has been in jail since May 2013 after he was arrested by the state police for duping thousands of investors in Odisha by floating various fraudulent schemes.

The Central Bureau of Investigation, which took over the probe into the chit fund scam in the state following the direction of Supreme Court, has estimated that Artha Tatwa group defrauded thousands of depositors of a total of about Rs 1,200 crore.

The ED has been probing the case under charges of Prevention of Money Laundering Act.