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.
Initially reluctant to involve the CBI in the investigation on the ground that the central agency had not been able to make any headway into the Nandigram and Netai killings, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee later changed her stance, saying that the government was not averse to it.
The alleged chit fund scam in West Bengal involving the Saradha Group revolves around a total sum of Rs 2,460 crore with 80 per cent of the depositors' monies still remaining unpaid, a latest investigation report has revealed.
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.
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.
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.
Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha MP Srinjoy Bose was on Friday arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation after a marathon interrogation for five hours for his alleged involvement in the multi-crore Saradha chit fund scam.
Since the Saradha group of companies went bust with its owner Sudipta Sen in police custody from 2013, its agents have been left penniless, homeless and have lost all hope of living a peaceful life. They are out on the streets, crying themselves hoarse for compensation. One of them writes an open letter to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for help.
The agency had summoned him in January too but he sought time, citing the ongoing Winter Session of Parliament, they said.
The quizmaster-turned-parliamentarian was interrogated for about two hours on some financial transactions in bank accounts related to the TMC mouthpiece 'Jago Bangla'.
The owner of a rural chit fund firm, active in two south Bengal districts, died on Thursday in Hooghly district taking the ponzi scheme fiasco deaths in the state to 14.
Reaction to surge in applications, seemingly to hide identity as chit funds.
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.
The Rajya Sabha MP, who is also a spokesperson of West Bengal's ruling party, was asked to appear before a CBI team in the first week of August, officials said on Friday.
Rejecting the demand for sacking Transport Minister Madan Mitra arrested in Saradha scam case, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday stepped up her attack on Narendra Modi saying "if image is a proof of criminal conspiracy, then the Prime Minister should be arrested for Sahara scam."
Bogged down by inefficient administration and unable to attract financing, the once legendary football clubs of Kolkata are fading into irrelevance.