Fraudster held by EOW for cheating 3 lakh investors

Bhubaneswar: The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Odisha Crime Branch on Saturday arrested Pratap Kimar Rout, the Odisha head of Hedgex Fund, for his involvement in allegedly defrauding Rs 1,000 crore from more than three lakh depositors across 10 States.

Rout was arrested rom Cuttack and will be produced before the Designated Court under the OPID Act, Cuttack, the EOW stated. He has been booked under Sections 420, 467, 468, 471 and 120-B of the IPC, read with Sections 4, 5 and 6 of the PCMCS (Banning) Act, Section 66 (D) of the IT Act and Sections 21 (1) (3) and 23 of the BUDS Act.

The case was registered following a complaint by Bijay Kumar Panigrahy, who alleged that he invested Rs 92.6 lakh in Hedgex Fund LLP, whose designated partners are Dinesh Kumar Jain and Kuldeep Singh Panwar. Rout reportedly persuaded him to invest his retirement savings by promising monthly returns ranging from 11 per cent to 18 per cent. After a few months, the company stopped operations thus blocking investors’ funds.

Rout, as the Odisha coordinator, operated multiple bank accounts, collected funds in cash and through hawala channels and organised promotional meetings in Cuttack and Bhubaneswar to attract more investors. According to the EOW, the fraud followed a Ponzi scheme model, initially offering small periodic returns to gain investor trust before abruptly shutting down operations and disappearing with public money.

Preliminary investigation revealed that Hedgex Fund LLP was registered with Registrar of Companies, Goa, in 2023, but its network spread across 10 States including Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Assam, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Delhi and Odisha, affecting over 3 lakh depositors.

The total amount defrauded is estimated to exceed Rs 1,000 crore. The company also floated several sister concerns including Kaushalaya Foundation, Lavya World, Frix Market and Lavya International between 2023 and 2024 to deceive investors. Rout and other top members allegedly used multiple mule and third party accounts to conceal transactions and mislead enforcement agencies. The EOW has seized several incriminating documents from Rout’s possession.