Bhubaneswar, Aug 4: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested a director of a company from Tamil Nadu for perpetrating a multi-city chit fund scam and evading arrest since 2019, an official said on Monday.

Sivakumar Gangadharan alias G. Sivakumar, a director of RightmaxTechnotrade International Ltd, was arrested on Sunday in Karur, Tamil Nadu, by a CBI team from Bhubaneswar.

Sivakumar was declared a proclaimed offender in the chit fund scam case and had been evading arrest since 2019 by frequently changing his whereabouts, the CBI said.

The case, initially registered in 2014, involved allegations of fraud, criminal conspiracy, and violations of the Prize Chits and Money Circulation Schemes (Banning) Act, 1978.

The CBI used technical tools and source information to track down Sivakumar, said an official in a statement.

A CBI team from Bhubaneswar apprehended him on Sunday and produced him before the Special CJM Court, which remanded him to judicial custody till August 18, it said.

Rightmax Technotrade International, a company incorporated on April 1, 2010, in Bangalore, is accused of plotting the multi-crore rupee chit fund scam by allegedly collecting money from investors on the pretext of promising high returns.

According to CBI, the company was listed among 44 Ponzi firms involved in the multi-crore chit fund scam. The company had lured investors by offering a monthly interest of 10 per cent on deposits.

In February 2015, market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) had prohibited the company from raising public funds.

The CBI registered the case in 2014 concerning allegations of fraud, criminal conspiracy, and violations of the Prize Chits and Money Circulation Schemes (Banning) Act. Over the years, the investigation targeted key individuals associated with RTIL.

In Odisha, the company allegedly duped investors to the tune of approximately Rs 17 crore, with multiple officials arrested in connection with the scam.

In 2017, an Odisha court sentenced two employees of the chit fund firm to three years’ imprisonment. (IANS).

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