The winter session of state Assembly concluded a few days ago with passing of just one Bill. It is the Manipur Protection of Interest of Depositors (in Financial Establishments) Bill, 2014. Moving the Bill to be passed in the House, chief minister O Ibobi during the session elucidated the need for passing it, citing that there have been cases of fraudulent practices by fake financial schemes in the state in recent times. He informed the House that even in Thoubal district, which is his home constituency there have been cases of fraudsters running away after duping many investors. The state has already witnessed fraudulent investment schemes vanishing without a trace with huge amount of money collected from the investors. In the past, IFP has been able to bring to light of the collapse of popular investment schemes in the state. It is true that many investors who had been conned by the fraud schemes are still not able to recover their money till today. Many families are still under mental trauma after the breakdown of such schemes. Most of the investors who suffered losses have time and again appealed to the government to intervene into the matter.
`It is never too late to act`™ is what the government has purportedly shown by introducing the Bill in the winter session of the House. Mention may be made that multi-crore Saradha scam in West Bengal stole newspaper headlines across the country. In this regard, the Central Bureau of Investigation arrested West Bengal Transport Minister, Madan Mitra, who is also a senior leader of the Trinamool Congress on the 12th of this month. And he is the first minister to be arrested by the sleuths. CBI officials regarding Mitra`™s arrest told the media that he was arrested on prima facie evidence of criminal conspiracy, cheating and misappropriation as well as deriving undue financial benefits from the Saradha group. It is certain that the said Bill which was introduced in the winter Session of the Manipur Legislative Assembly, after the Governors`™ assent would become an Act soon. Should it become an Act; let it serve its purpose to safeguard investors from financial racketeers who are on the prowl, looking for vulnerable targets.
The CM during the discussion on the Bill specifically mentioned that gullible `middle class`™ investors have been victims of the financial scams which rocked the state in the recent past. Ours is a place where one can find parallel growth of luxurious automobile showrooms, sprouting at different pockets of the town and also growth of pre-owned vehicles plying on the roads. Similarly, this is where there is simultaneous expansion of international-brand apparel showrooms along with the pre-owned clothes business. Locating the `middle-class`™, in such a situation, might not be easy. Leaving aside the task of delineating the Manipuri middle class in the context of financial scams, and however promising the Bill may sound in protecting the investors, we would mandate for a thorough investigation of the past scams which have left many investors high and dry. The investigation may be handed to the CBI or any other reliable agencies. Question is: will the authorities display the same commitment towards such measures? How long are they going to keep the financial fraudsters happy by allowing them to move freely?
Leader Writer: Senate Kh
Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2014/12/hunting-down-financial-fraudsters/