BHOPAL: A very few people are aware of presence of Cooperative and Chit Fund Fraud Crime Department to check crime in the state. The department is very much active and has as many as 400 cases have been registered with it.
The ADG Cooperative and Chit Fund Fraud Crime Department RK Mishra talking to Free Press said that a very few people are aware of the Cooperative and Chit Fund Fraud Crime Department of police and so many crimes are going unreported.
A number of people are becoming victim of the fraud and losing their hard-earned money as they are clueless about the fraud being committed in societies and such organisations, said Mishra, adding that people can approach police or report the matter to the department directly. Around 400 cases related to the cooperative fraud, chit fund fraud, company fraud are registered with the department, he added. Currently the investigation is underway in 127 cases related to Primary Agriculture Cooperative Societies, and 30 cases are related to chit fund frauds, informed the ADG.
Citing a few cases, the ADG informed that within a month’s time, Cooperative and Chit Fund Fraud Crime Department are likely to complete its investigation underway in eight cases filed in Morena. The eight farmers of Morena had become victim of loan fraud. It was only when they were informed that the farm loan taken by them have been waived off that they came to know that someone had taken loan from the cooperative bank in their name. The farmers had reported the matter to Cooperative and Chit Fund Fraud Crime Department and the investigations into the cases are underway, informed Mishra. The investigation officer has got the crucial evidences in the case and within a month the probe will be completed, he added.
A Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been constituted to investigate Chhindawara chit fund scam and Satna district cooperative bank fraud. It is for the first time that the department is sending additional SP rank officers to CBI for the training and these officers would learn how to deal with cooperative, chit fund and other frauds.
Similarly, the state police officials will also going to get the training from the officials of SEBI, RERA, Cyber Crime, NABARD and Questioning Documents experts to solve the cases, he added. The department has coordinated with the Government of India’s Financial Intelligence Unit, Department of Revenue Intelligence and Economic Intelligence Bureau for investigation.
Fraudsters having field’s day: Coming up of Primary Agriculture Cooperative Societies, Long Area Multi Purpose Societies have given wider scope to the fraudsters to con them. As many as 4500 such societies are running in the state. The fraudsters in collusion with the office bearers of societies take the loan in the name of the members without their knowledge and thus rip off the money.
Similarly, the chit fund companies, housing societies, companies and money laundering cases are happening in state siphoning off hard earned money of the people. Interestingly, the state government lacks any policy or have any precautionary mechanism to curb such frauds been committed by the organisations. None of the agencies including police have power to question the organisation about their working. The fraudsters are taking advantage of the lacuna to swindle the people’s money.
