Guwahati, Feb 1: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has filed a second supplementary chargesheet against Deepankar Barman, the alleged mastermind behind the massive DB Stock Consultancy scam, before the Special CBI Court in Guwahati on Saturday.
Barman, a 22-year-old, was arrested in Goa on October 27, 2024, by Guwahati Police and later handed over to the CBI. He is accused of orchestrating a Ponzi scheme that defrauded investors of over ₹7,000 crore across Assam and five other states.
The chargesheet was filed within 90 days of his arrest, and he remains in judicial custody. CBI investigations revealed that Barman, along with key associates including Monalisha Das, Chabin Barman, Deepali Talukdar, and Mukesh Agrawal (CA), operated DB Stock Consultancy as a fraudulent investment scheme.
Investors were promised guaranteed high returns, with transactions backed only by ₹100 stamp papers. Payments started becoming irregular from June 2024, and eventually, investors lost access to their funds as Barman and his associates allegedly fled with their money.
The scam involved five unregulated deposit schemes, through which more than ₹400 crore was directly collected by Barman. Thousands of investors suffered huge financial losses.
The CBI took over the investigation from Paltan Bazar Police Station on October 14, 2024, after a request from the Assam government. The probe has so far led to multiple chargesheets being filed, including against co-accused Monalisha Das, Chabin Barman, Deepali Talukdar, and Mukesh Agrawal, currently facing trial.
Barman has been charged under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Banning of Unregulated Deposit Schemes (BUDS) Act, 2019, including Criminal conspiracy (120B IPC), Criminal breach of trust (409 IPC), Cheating (420 IPC), Falsification of accounts (477A IPC) and BUDS Act violations (Sections 21 & 25).
The DB Stock Consultancy scam is part of a larger financial fraud crackdown in Assam. The CBI has re-registered 41 cases, consolidating them into 35 FIRs, involving various Ponzi schemes. So far, chargesheets have been filed in 20 cases, including major scams like TradingFX (Ranjit Kakoty), Percelia Consultancy (Bishal Phukan/Sumi Bora), and AJRS Marketing (Gopal Paul).
The case continues to unfold as authorities tighten the noose around financial fraudsters exploiting investors with false promises.
