Guwahati (Assam) [India], December 19 : The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed a supplementary chargesheet against accused persons Chabin Barman, Deepali Talukdar Barman, and Mukesh Aggarwal in one of the Assam Ponzi Scam cases before the Special CBI Court in Guwahati, the CBI said in a release on Thursday.
According to the press release, the chargesheet was filed within 90 days of the arrest of these three accused, who are currently in judicial custody in connection with the case. Additional evidence against the already chargesheeted accused, Monalisha Das, has also been included in the supplementary chargesheet.
The CBI further stated that the case was initially registered on October 14, following a request from the Government of Assam to take over the investigation that had originally been registered by Assam Police on August 21 this year. The case was against DB Stock Consultancy, owned by Deepankar Barman, along with his close associate Monalisha Das and seven to eight employees of the organisation.
It was alleged that the accused persons had collected money from several clients by promising guaranteed returns, providing Rs 100 stamp papers as proof. However, it was revealed that, in the last three months, payments were irregular, and many clients did not receive their returns. The complainant further alleged that he invested Rs 1 crore, and several thousand clients collectively invested thousands of crores in the organisation, but the accused persons fled with the invested amounts, the release stated.
According to CBI, the investigation revealed that DB Stock Consultancy had been accepting deposits from the public, promising high fixed returns. The proprietorship and its key personnel were running five unregulated deposit schemes offering higher returns. More than Rs 400 crore was reportedly collected by the proprietorship of Deepankar Barman.
The investigation also found that chargesheeted accused Monalisha Das had acted in criminal conspiracy with the accused persons to defraud thousands of depositors by accepting deposits under the pretext of high returns and then defaulting on them.
Chabin Barman, along with his wife Deepali Talukdar Barman and son Deepankar Barman, conspired to promote the unregulated deposit scheme of DB Consultancy during a promotional event at Gauhati Medical College.
Deepali Talukdar Barman, in association with her family, participated in promoting and running the unregulated deposit scheme, receiving proceeds from the scheme, which she invested in real estate and other businesses for personal gain, the release stated.
Mukesh Agarwal, a chartered accountant, conspired with Deepankar Barman to conceal the proceeds of the scheme in the firm's accounts. Following Deepankar's instructions, Mukesh Agarwal fabricated fake invoices, adjusted illicit funds as loans in the firm's books, created false financial documents, and manipulated IT and GST returns for Deepankar Barman, aiding in the concealment of the proceeds from the unregulated deposit scheme, the release added.
CBI is furthering the investigation that is ongoing against others, including Deepankar Barman.