Against the former Cuttack MLA Pravat Ranjan Biswal, his wife Laxmi Bilasani Biswal, M/s Seashore Securities Ltd., M/s Seashore Multipurpose Cooperative Ltd., their two directors Prashanta Kumar Dash and Pravat Kumar Dash, as well as three other individuals, the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) filed a second Supplementary Prosecution Complaint on August 14, 2023. The Prosecution Complaint has been acknowledged by the Honourable Court. In this instance, ED had already filed a Prosecution Complaint in 2016 and a Supplementary Complaint in 2017.
The Economic Offences Division (ED) began an investigation based on a First Information Report (FIR) filed by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Crime Branch of the Odisha Police. Subsequently, a Charge Sheet was also filed under numerous IPC sections, the Prize Chits and Money Circulation Schemes (Banning) Act of 1978, and the Odisha Protection of Interest of Depositors (in Financial Establishments) Act of 2011. Following the Hon’ble High Court of Orissa’s directive, the inquiry was later opened by the Central Bureau of Inquiry (CBI), SPE, SCB, Kolkata, vide FIR No. RC.49/S/2014-Kol, dtd.05.06.2014.
The results of the ED investigation showed that Pravat Ranjan Biswal, M/s Seashore Multipurpose Cooperative Ltd. Seashore Group of Companies had amassed significant sums of money from the general public through their registered cooperatives and that these sums had then been transferred to other shell companies and various related parties in order to hide their original source and subsequently layer them. As stated in the ED’s supplemental complaint, the accused individuals were also employed to channel the profits of crime. Additional research is being done.
