The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday attached assets worth Rs28 crore in the Saradha chit fund scam money laundering case against former Union Minister Matang Sinh and other accused persons, including his estranged wife Manoranjana.
The orders for freezing of the assets, including flats, plots, bank accounts and fixed deposits were issued by the zonal office of the agency in Kolkata under provisions of the Prevention of Money laundering Act (PMlA), sources said.
The attached assets include joint properties belonging to former Union Minister Matang Sinh, who is undergoing judicial custody, his estranged wife Manoranjana, Kolkata-based media tycoon Ramesh Gandhi, painter Shuvaprasanna and former Doordarshan Director General Ratilal Basu. These accused persons have in the past undergone questioning in connection with the Saradha chit fund scam by the ED and the CBI.
While the book value of the assets is Rs28 crore, the market value of these properties is about Rs150 crore.
The attached properties are spread in Assam, West Bengal, Mumbai and Delhi, they said, adding the agency will soon approach a competent court to take possession of these assets.
The accused persons, whose assets have been attached, can appeal against the order of the agency before the Adjudicating Authority of the PMlA within 120 days, according to the provisions of the PMlA.
An attachment order under anti-money laundering law is aimed to deprive the accused from obtaining benefits from the tainted assets under probe.
The ED, on the basis of various police FIRs filed by states such as West Bengal, Assam and Odisha, had registered a criminal case under the PMlA in 2013 and it has attached assets worth over Rs700 crore in this case till now.
The CBI is also probing the Saradha scam case under the provisions of the IPC.