Real estate chief sentenced
A court in Cuttack, Odisha sentenced the chief of a real estate firm to five-year imprisonment for duping over 150 people of Rs 1.5 crore. Shiridi Sai Estate Ltd (SSEL) Managing Director Prakash Panda’s is the first conviction under the Odisha Protection of Interests of Depositors Act that enacted in 2011 to protect small investors and home buyers. SSEL had duped unsuspecting investors after promising to provide them homestead land at a low price. It had agreed to return double of the invested money if the firm failed to provide the land. Some investors filed a petition in the Orissa High Court demanding action against the company after it provided neither land nor money. The state government had last year announced that depositors losing Rs 10,000 or below will be considered as small depositors and priority will be accorded to them while making refunds.
Tags : News/Views