An FIR has been filed against Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament Kunal Ghosh, Saradha Group chairman Sudipta Sen and six others for non-payment of salaries to employees of a television channel run by the chit fund company.
The most wanted man of Bengal, Sudipta Sen, along with his close aide Debjani Mukherjee, their driver Rajeeb and another Saradha group official were apprehended from Kashmir's Sonemarg on Tuesday.
The FIR was filed on Thursday night at the Park Street police station by journalist and non-journalist employees of Channel 10 stating that they were not paid salaries for the last three months despite repeated assurances, a senior journalist of the channel Bithin Sarkar said on Friday.
The Enforcement Directorate on Wednesday night arrested the wife and son of the alleged kingpin of the multi-crore Saradha chit fund scam accused Sudipta Sen in a money laundering case.
Appearing before Justice A K Banerjee and Justice D Basak, Sen's counsel claimed the government was yet to form a special court, as suggested by the High Court in its earlier order, for hearing all cases with regard to the Saradha scam, which runs into thousands of crores of rupees.
Two banks accounts were placed under attachment by Enforcement Directorate sometime back.
He was arrested this morning by CBI sleuths.
In February, the directorate attached properties of the group worth Rs 35 crore (Rs 350 million) in West Bengal and Odisha under the provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
A CBI team from New Delhi will arrive in Assam on Tuesday to initiate investigations into duping cases reported against chit fund companies in Assam, reports K Anurag
Official sources said a team of sleuths from the agency searched the flat located in Greater Kailash area yesterday in connection with their money laundering probe in the multi-crore chitfund scam.
In a letter the Central Bureau of Investigation dated April 6, West Bengal's chit fund scam accused and Saradha Group promoter Sudipta Sen has accused Trinamool Congress Members of Parliament Kunal Ghosh and Srinjoy Bose of blackmailing him for huge sums of money.
The CBI action came a day after the agency filed its second charge sheet in the case alleging that former director general (state armed police) and Trinamool Vice President Rajat Majumdar and East Bengal Club official Debabrata Sarkar were beneficiaries of the money collected through chit fund scam.
About 17 lakh investors, mostly in West Bengal, who have lost crores of rupees in the Saradha chit fund scam are fast losing hope. The scandal continues to roil West Bengal political circles with several ruling Trinamool Congress leaders being implicated and some arrested. Even West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's name has been dragged into the sordid mess. Indrani Roy presents a FAQ on what the scam is about and the main players behind it.
At least 10 companies are currently being probed for possible violation of CIS regulations of Sebi, the official said, while adding that role of Sen and other top executives associated with these entities was also being investigated.
With Lok Sabha elections in progress, arrests of Sen's kin have kicked up a huge political storm both at the regional as well as at the state level.
Sudipta Sen threatens to disclose involvement of politicians in the chit-fund scam
In an 18-page "suicide note" to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Sudipta Sen has declared himself as the only son of Maa Saradha.
The Saradha chit fund scam on Wednesday snowballed into a major political controversy with the names of two Trinamool Congress Members of Parliament figuring in a letter purportedly written to the Central Bureau of Investigation by the collapsed company's chairman Sudipta Sen.
70 per cent of the total ad market in the state was driven by these companies.
According to official figures, only 30 per cent of the total population in Assam has bank accounts, reports K Anurag
On the back foot over the chit fund scam in West Bengal, Trinamool Congress on Thursday raised questions over the role of a senior Chennai-based lawyer who is married to a Congress union minister.
With her simple cotton saree and hawai chappal, Mamata was always identified with the poorest of the poor Bengali. But this sudden burst of chit fund network of seemingly cheat companies has dragged her into the cesspool. Sheela Bhatt analyses.
It was a multi-million rupee scam whose extent and reach are still being unravelled, so why did the chief of the scam-tainted Saradha group Sudipta Sen plead that he was unable to pay Rs 30,000 as bail fee? Where could all the money have gone? Indrani Roy finds out.
A Kolkata sub-divisional magistrate's court on Thursday sent Ponzi king Sudipto Sen and two other accused to police custody for 14 days over their role in the Saradha chit fund scam. Media reports said the bail pleas of the three swindlers had been rejected and that they were charged for fraud and criminal breach of trust under Sections 406 and 420 of the Indian Penal Code.
The accused were charged under Indian Penal Code sections -- 409 (criminal breach of trust by public servant, or by banker, merchant or agent), 420 (cheating) and 120B (punishment of criminal conspiracy).
The central agency had prayed for 10 days custody of the accused, but the court granted a week.
The source said that the directorate would also question the suppliers from which the company had purchased those equipment.
The Calcutta high court on Tuesday directed the Central Bureau of Investigation to file an affidavit by Thursday stating whether the central investigating agency had been handed over investigation by other states into the multi-crore chit fund scam that affected lakhs of investors.
Suvaprasanna, considered close to ruling Trinamool Congress in West Bengal, allegedly sold a television channel he owned to Saradha Group chief Sudipta Sen, now in jail custody.
In a written reply, Minister of State for Personnel Jitendra Singh said three cases in West Bengal and one case in Odisha have been registered by CBI.
Amalgamated Bean Coffee Trading Company has embarked on a major expansion plan involving a total investment of Rs 18-25 crore of its Cafe Coffee Day outlets with 100 more to be established, including 50 abroad.
India's leading coffee-cafe chain Cafe Coffee Day on Tuesday opened its 150th outlet in New Delhi incorporating a bookshop within and announced plans to open 25 more outlets in north India this year.
The agency had summoned him in January too but he sought time, citing the ongoing Winter Session of Parliament, they said.
The first to arrive at the Salt Lake office of the central probe agency here was the award wining actor and director Sen whose statement was recorded by ED which is probing her role as the Editor of a magazine brought out by the now defunct group.
Speculation is rife that beleaguered Mukul Roy, a close aide of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and under the CBI scanner in the Saradha chit fund scam, may switch over to the BJP. Neither Roy or the BJP have commented on the rumours. But Roy's recent remarks seems to expose him. Sheela Bhatt and Indrani Roy report.
Imran, a Rajya Sabha MP, reached the agency's office in Salt Lake here and will be questioned about his connections with the defunct group owned by jailed Saradha Chairman Sudipta Sen.
Sudipto Sen, chairman of the Saradha Group, who was arrested in April last year after the Saradha bubble burst, today came to attend the hearing of the commission. "I want Saradha Group's property to be auctioned to return money to all creditors," Sen said while leaving.
The particular matter with Nalini pertains to the legal fee paid to her by the Saradha group.
The quizmaster-turned-parliamentarian was interrogated for about two hours on some financial transactions in bank accounts related to the TMC mouthpiece 'Jago Bangla'.