The Odisha Protection of Interests of Depositors (OPID) court in Cuttack ordered the auctioning of two real estate companies to enable the recovery of investments of duped investors.
Pronouncing the verdict, the court directed the Additional District Magistrate Cuttack to sell the attached properties by auction, release the sale proceeds to realise the amount in the bank accounts for equitable distribution among the deceived depositors.
The court in a verdict pronounced on Friday directed the auction of properties of Orissa Homes Private Limited and Trisal Estates and Constructions Private Limited under the Odisha Protection of Interests of Depositors (In Financial Establishments) Act, 2011.
The modus operandi of both the companies was simple. Floating attractive housing schemes, both the firms had managed to collect Rs 7.54 crore from 153 investors. The real estate firms did not provide houses to the investors and gobbled up their hard-earned deposits.
Taken for a ride by the bogus companies, the duped investors had later knocked at the doors of the Economic Offence Wing (EOW) of the Crime Branch. The EOW had later in 2018 attached the properties of the companies.
The attached properties of the companies included among other things 18.3 acres of land having market value of Rs 1.05 crore and nine bank accounts having deposits of Rs 8.87 lakh.