Chit fund scam accused invested in Tollywood?

Visakhapatnam: ODISHA Police officials are probing the possibility of YSR Congress Party leader and Chairman of AP Education & Welfare Infrastructure Development Corporation Malla Vijaya Prasad's alleged investments into production of Tollywood films with the money collected through various deposit schemes.

The Economic Offences Wing of Odisha Police, which sprang a surprise by raiding Prasad's house and offices in Visakhapatnam and subsequently arrested him for alleged collection of deposits promising good returns or handing over a developed residential plot in several parts of Odisha and later failing to keep his commitment. A senior official of Odisha Police told Bizz Buzz that they registered cases of cheating in 2019 on receipt of complaints from about 150 depositors at various places.

Producer of Telugu hit 'Siddu From Srikakulam,' Prasad, who won as Congress MLA from the city in 2009 and lost to TDP as a YSR Congress Party candidate in the elections held in 2019, has produced half a dozen budget films. Being Managing Director of Welfare Buildings & Estate Pvt. Ltd, he had opened branches in various parts of Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Chattisgarh with multiple deposit offers. CBI had searched his promises in 2016 in connection with the chit fund scam which shook Odisha and West Bengal.

After his arrest on Monday evening, he was taken to Bhubaneswar on Tuesday following a transit remand obtained from a local magistrate and checkup at King George Hospital. He was produced at the designated chit fund offences' special court at Cuttack. The Odisha Police also grilled him for several hours.

In an interview to a TV channel in 2018, he clarified that he was not collecting deposits like controversial Akshara Gold and AgriGold promoters. He had claimed that the deposits by the firm founded by him stood at Rs700 crore as per law and claimed that he had assets worth over Rs1,200 crore.

During a raid in Visakhapatnam, the Odisha Police seized Rs45 lakh in cash and several incriminating documents from his possession. In a press release issued in Bhubaneswar, the Odisha Police said that cases have been registered in Odisha in 2019 on receipt of complaints of duping customers in Jeypore, Semiliguda, Bhadrak, Balasore and other places after promising huge returns.

The Odisha Police said the instant case was registered on the allegation of duping a large number of investors to the tune of crores of rupees on the pretext of returning a high rate of interest on investment in different deposit schemes floated by Wellfare Group of Companies, Visakhapatnam and its MD Vijay Prasad Malla (the present accused) and its two other Directors.

Investigation of the case revealed that Wellfare Building & Estates Pvt Ltd was initially registered with RoC, Hyderabad, and subsequently changed to Kolkata during 2011, having its head office at Visakhapatnam and registered Office at Kolkata. During the period 2009 to 2014, the accused company was operating its branch offices in Odisha at Bhubaneswar, Narsinghpur (Cuttack) and Nayagarh.

It has been ascertained that Wellfare Building & Estates Pvt. Ltd. represented through its Managing Director (the present accused) and others had allured general public with false promise of returning high rate of interest on deposits under different schemes of the company and unauthorisedly collected huge amounts to the tune of crores from a large numbers of investors and absconded from the locality after closing their offices, the statement said.