Odisha chit fund scam: Pradip Sethi gets 7-year jail term

Bhubaneswar: A special CBI court here on Thursday sentenced chit fund firm Artha Tatwa (AT) Group Chief Pradip Sethi to seven years imprisonment after he pleaded guilty to duping depositors of their money.

The special chief judicial magistrate (CJM) court of CBI also sentenced Manoj Patnaik, another director of AT Group to four years in jail.

The court imposed a fine of Rs 30,000 on Sethi and Rs 10,000 on Patnaik.

The court has directed AT Group to deposit Rs 250 crore with it within the stipulated period failing which their properties will be attached.

Both Sethi and Patnaik had pleaded guilty before the court on Wednesday.

It may be mentioned here that Sethi was arrested on May 13, 2013, in connection with the AT Group scam.