Guwahati, April 14: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested two persons – Pushpajit Purkayastha and Sandeep Gupta – here following an investigation that revealed their significant involvement in the multi-crore DB Stock Consultancy scam related to unregulated deposit schemes in Assam.
Purkayastha, a former branch manager of Axis Bank’s Rehabari branch here, was found to have colluded with DB Stock Consultancy, operated by accused mastermind Deepankar Barman, to solicit deposits from people with false promises of high returns.
“The investigation revealed that he, in conspiracy with Barman, lured bank customers and other investors to invest in the scheme through misleading promises of handsome and guaranteed returns. He made huge illegal gains in the form of commission, for bringing innocent investors into the fold of fraudulent schemes,” an official statement said.
“Pushpajit managed clients and investors based in Mumbai and Guwahati, abusing his position to facilitate these fraudulent activities,” it said.
Accused Sandeep Gupta, the main agent and aggregator for DB Stock Consultancy, was found to have conspired with accused mastermind, Barman, and others accomplices, in the operation of DB Stock Consultancy, an illegal deposit scheme.
“He handled clients and investors from Dibrugarh, referring over 350 customers and soliciting funds from them with false promises of high returns. The investigation revealed that he earned lakhs of rupees as commission from DB Stock Consultancy for the referrals and deposits collected through his network,” the statement said.
The CBI has already filed a chargesheet against prime accused of the scam, Deepankar Barman, along with his fiancé Monalisha Das, his parents Chabin Barman and Deepali Barman, and Mukesh Agarwal, a chartered accountant.
Barman, the owner of DB Stock Consultancy, is accused of cheating and defrauding over 10,000 people across the country, of more than Rs 400 crore, by luring them to invest in a fraudulent unregulated deposit scheme with false assurances of fixed high returns and subsequently defaulting on these deposits.