Assam Asks People to be on Guard Against Fake Financial Companies

Guwahati, Sep 23 : The Assam government today asked people to be on guard against fake financial companies while the 'Consumers Legal Protection Forum' reported that a sum of Rs 3000 crore has been swindled in state in past one year.

Issuing a public notice in the media, the government asked people to be aware of such fake organisations posing themselves as financial or banking companies to collect money from the public in rural and urban areas promising high returns.

The government's public notice urged the people to remain alert and not fall prey to illegal activities of such fake companies/individuals, groups "who try to collect money/deposit by making false promises of high returns or interests".

The public were also urged to immediately inform such activities to the district deputy commissioners, subdivisional officers (civil), officer in charge of local police stations.

Meanwhile, CLPF secretary Ratul Mahanta told reporters that at least 15 such fake companies "based in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and even USA during the last 12 months collected Rs 3040 crore from people across the state before disappearing with the money".

"In the Bodo-dominated Baksa district alone there were 1200 complaints with the forum about the fraud companies based in Delhi and Chennai. Legal notices were sent to those companies but they were returned to us as the addressees could not be found", Mahanta said.

The huge amount of money syphoned out of the state was calculated on the basis of the investors' complaints and the post-dated bank cheques that bounced after the companies disappeared, he said.

"Some of the companies operated for a year, some six months and a few for less than three months..", forum's chief coordinator Ajoy Hazarika said.