In a significant move against financial fraud, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has provisionally attached assets totaling ₹13.41 crore linked to a money laundering investigation involving DB Stock Consultancy and its owner, Deepankar Barman. This action is part of a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, which has unveiled a large-scale alleged Ponzi scheme that defrauded thousands of investors nationwide. The inquiry originated from an FIR filed at Paltan Bazar Police Station in August 2024 and was subsequently taken over by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), indicating the case’s severity.
The ED’s investigation revealed that DB Stock Consultancy operated an unregulated deposit scheme in Guwahati from 2021 until August 2024, offering excessively high returns of 1.25% per week to 120% annually. The consultancy recruited investors through educational institutions, WhatsApp groups, and personal connections. Approximately 15,500 investors were reportedly defrauded, with total deposits reaching ₹400.14 crore, characterizing the operation as a classic Ponzi scheme—using funds from new investors to pay returns to earlier ones without any real business activity.
Authorities emphasized that the firm lacked registration as a Non-Banking Financial Company and was not authorized by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to accept public deposits. Deepankar Barman allegedly fled on August 18, 2024, after the scheme’s collapse but was later apprehended by Assam Police in collaboration with the CBI. The attached assets comprise immovable properties valued at ₹8.71 crore, including flats, land, and office spaces in Guwahati, Hyderabad, and Visakhapatnam, alongside movable assets worth ₹4.70 crore, which include 27 bank accounts with ₹4.04 crore and investments in mutual funds and equities totaling ₹66 lakh. Ongoing investigations aim to trace additional proceeds of crime and identify other individuals or entities involved in the fraudulent scheme.