Maharashtra: Soon, a special body to curb cheating through chit funds, ponzi schemes

The Maharashtra home department is planning to strengthen the existing set-up for effective and speedy investigation of economic offences, in order to curb cases of cheating through chit funds and ponzi schemes.

The Maharashtra home department is planning to strengthen the existing set-up for effective and speedy investigation of economic offences, in order to curb cases of cheating through chit funds and ponzi schemes. The department will has also proposed to appoint dedicated officers in all police stations, to handle economic offences.

The state government has decided to implement the Maharashtra Protection of Interest of Depositors Act (MPID) by setting up a competent authority, headed by a high court judge. This body is expected to take suo motu action against operators of chit funds and ponzi schemes, keeping a check on doubtful financial transactions. He said the authority will also look into cases related to cybercrime and narcotics.

Minister of state for home Ranjeet Patil said on Wednesday that the process of appointment for the special body has started. “It will have officers of the rank of deputy collectors and additional commissioners of police, who will report to the judge who heads the body. This will ensure speedy trials. The entity will also monitor financial transactions under ponzi schemes. This will help us safeguard common people from financial scams. There are thousands of cases in places such as Nashik and Vidarbha that caused losses worth crores, and no effective action was taken against their operators,” he said.

The minister said that in order to curb other economic offences, they have proposed to appoint dedicated officers at every police station. “The special authority will also deal with the rising menace of drug abuse, especially among members of the youth,” he said.

At a meeting with officials from the ministry of home affairs two weeks ago in New Delhi, officials of the state home department floated the idea for a special authority to deal with the National Spot Exchange Limited (NSEL) scam. The state government also articulated the need to strengthen the economic offence wing.