The CBI on Wednesday lodged a whopping 46 FIRs in the Rs 10,000-crore Saradha chit fund scam, naming Trinamool Congress’ sitting Rajya Sabha member Kunal Ghosh as one of the accused. The agency registered three of these cases in West Bengal and took over 43 cases from Odisha Police which was probing the case.
A CBI spokesperson said the larger conspiracy angle, including the role of regulatory authorities and the money trail in this scam, will also be investigated.
The role of regulatory bodies like Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI), Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Ministry of Corporate Affairs will also be examined as per the orders of the Supreme Court (SC) which had directed the agency to probe the case, CBI sources said. Government officials and politicians will be questioned in due course to unravel the larger nexus between the babus and netas who allegedly promoted the illegal chit fund racket, sources said.
In its three FIRs relating to West Bengal, the CBI has registered cases against chairman-cum-managing director of Saradha group Sudipta Sen, the then director of Saradha Realty India ltd Debjani Mukherjee, the CEO of Saradha Media Kunal Ghosh, also a TMC MP, the then senior vice-president Saradha Media Somnath Dutta, the then director of Saradha Realty Manoj Naghel and an employee of Saradha Group of Companies Aurobindo Chauhan.
While Sen was arrested by West Bengal Police in Kashmir in 2013, Kunal Ghosh was apprehended on November 23 last year in connection with the scam.“These FIRs cover the four front-runner companies of the said Group. Other documents relating to the said Group are being scrutinized for further course of action. The documents of certain companies other than the said group of companies are in the process of collection as well as scrutiny,” CBI spokesperson Kanchan Prasad said.
The agency has registered the cases under various sections of the Indian Penal Code including those relating to criminal breach of trust, cheating and criminal conspiracy among others.In 43 FIRs registered in Odisha, the CBI has accused Pradeep Sethi, MD of Artha Tatwa Group and Prashant Das of Seashore Group besides MDs and other officials of Rose Valley micro-finance, Saradha Group, Astha International among others, agency sources said.
“In Odisha, the CBI has registered 43 cases against 43 companies and the then MDs; then directors and others on allegations of cheating, criminal breach of trust, conspiracy etc. Scrutiny of more documents is being carried out for future course of action,” Prasad said.The SC had last month handed over the Saradha chit fund scam to the CBI and asked the State Governments to provide all logistical help to the CBI team probing the matter.
The CBI has formed a Special Investigating Team (SIT) headed by Joint Director Rajeev Singh to unravel the inter-State racket.CBI Special Director Anil Kumar Sinha has been asked to monitor the progress in the probe and exercise administrative control under the overall supervision of the CBI Director.
“Investigations conducted so far put a question mark on the role of regulatory authorities like SEBI, Registrar of Companies and officials of RBI within whose respective jurisdictions and areas of operation the scam not only took birth but flourished unhindered,” the SC bench headed by Justice TS Thakur had said in its order directing the CBI to probe the scandal.