In a major action against financial fraud, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached assets worth ₹13.41 crore in connection with a money laundering case linked to DB Stock Consultancy and its proprietor, Deepankar Barman. Officials said the action was taken under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.The case is related to an alleged Ponzi scheme that reportedly cheated thousands of investors across the country. According to the ED, the firm collected huge sums of money by promising very high returns, which later turned out to be unsustainable.The investigation began after an FIR was registered at Paltan Bazar Police Station in Guwahati in August 2024. Due to the scale of the case, it was later taken over by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The ED then started its own probe into possible money laundering.
Officials said DB Stock Consultancy ran an unregulated deposit scheme between 2021 and August 2024. The company allegedly promised returns ranging from 1.25 per cent per week to as high as 120 per cent annually. Such promises attracted a large number of investors.The agency found that the scheme was widely promoted through WhatsApp groups, personal contacts, and even educational institutions. This helped the firm reach a large number of people in a short time.According to the findings, around 15,500 investors from different parts of India were allegedly cheated. The total amount collected in the scheme is estimated to be about ₹400.14 crore. Officials described the operation as a classic Ponzi model, where money from new investors is used to pay earlier investors instead of generating real profits.The ED also pointed out that the firm was not registered as a Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC) and did not have permission from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to accept public deposits.
Deepankar Barman, the main accused in the case, reportedly went missing on August 18, 2024, soon after the scheme collapsed. He was later arrested by Assam Police with the help of the CBI. As part of the latest action, the ED has attached immovable properties worth ₹8.71 crore. These include flats, land, and office spaces located in Guwahati, Hyderabad, and Visakhapatnam. Movable assets worth ₹4.70 crore have also been attached. These include 27 bank accounts with deposits of ₹4.04 crore, along with investments in mutual funds and shares worth about ₹66 lakh.