CBI files supplementary chargesheet against 3 in Assam Ponzi scam cases

Guwahati, Dec. 20: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday filed a supplementary chargesheet against three accused - Chabin Barman, Deepali Talukdar Barman, and Mukesh Aggarwal - in one of the Assam Ponzi scam cases, before the Special CBI Court, Guwahati.

The chargesheet has been filed within 90 days of the arrest of the three accused. They are presently in judicial custody in this case.

Additional evidence against already chargesheeted accused Monalisha Das has also been filed with the supplementary chargesheet.

The CBI had registered the case on December 14 at the request of the Government of Assam, taking over investigation of the case against DB Stock Consultancy

The case was originally registered by Paltan Bazar police station 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 taken money from several clients by convincing them of guaranteed returns and gave Rs 100 stamp paper in return as proof, but in the last three months, while some clients have found the payments were irregular, many did not even receive the payments.

The complainant further alleged that he had invested Rs 1 crore and along with him several thousands of clients had invested thousands of crores of rupees in the organisation, but the accused person fled along with the amount invested by the clients.

Investigation revealed that Deepankar Barman's DB Stock Consultancy had collected more than Rs 400 crore from depositors in the name of five unregulated deposit schemes promising fixed higher returns, while Monalisha Das acted in criminal conspiracy with the accused persons to cheat thousands of depositors.

Chabin Barman along with his wife Deepali Talukdar Barman and son Deepankar Barman conspired to promote the unregulated deposit scheme of DB Stock Consultancy at a promotional programme in Guwahati. In collaboration with his son, he ran the scheme for financial gain, receiving proceeds from DB Stock Consultancy and Deepankar's accounts.

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.

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, Agarwal fabricated fake invoices and adjusted the illicit funds as loans in the firm's books.

Agarwal also created false financial documents and manipulated the IT and GST returns for Deepankar Barman, further aiding in the concealment of the proceeds from the unregulated deposit scheme.

- By Staff Reporter