West Bengal Chit Fund Scam -Wednesday April 24,2013

Saradha group promoter and the main accused in the West Bengal chit fund scam Sudipta Sen who was brought to Kolkata late on April 24,2013 Wednesday night on a 4-day transit remand was produced in court on April 25,2013 Thursday along with two others arrested from Sonmarg in Jammu and Kashmir on April 23,2013 Tuesday.

Sources say six trunks full of deeds mentioned in Sudipta Sen's letter to the CBI have been seized. Sen's cook Hemanta Pradhan, who was made a director in one of his companies, has also been questioned.

In an 18-page letter, dated April 6, Sudipta Sen, Chairman and Managing Director of the Saradha Group, accuses the two Trinamool leaders, Kunal Ghosh and Srinjay Bose, of approaching him, citing their close links to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. He also alleges that Nalini Chidambaram, wife of Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram, who was Union Home Minister at the time, sought his help for the establishment of a television channel in north-east India. The letter accuses other businesspersons and politicians of putting pressure on the fund to lend money for various projects

In his letter to the CBI,Sudipta Sen says he was forced into media by TMC MPs Kunal Ghosh and Srinjoy Bose who runs the Pratidin media group. Many high profile names have been mentioned in the letter, including those of top TMC politicians, lawyers and journalists

Through the letter,Sudipta Sen made himself out to be the victim of a larger conspiracy and not the accused. 


WB Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced a Rs. 500 crore fund to refund the poorest among lakhs of depositors who have lost their savings in the Saradha chit fund collapse.Mamata Banerjee has set up a commission headed by a retired High Court judge which will study applications for refund of money and ensure that the Rs. 500 crore funds is spent to help the poorest of Saradha's investors.

The Corporate Affairs Ministry on April 25,2013 Thursday decided to order a probe into the affairs of Saradha group companies, amid a growing controversy over alleged defrauding of investors by the Kolkata-based entity

First FIRs Registered by CBI in Saradha Chit Fund Scam 

The Saradha Group had collapsed in April, 2013, leaving lakhs of small investors bankrupt in West Bengal and Orissa

The Saradha group, headquartered in Kolkata, mobilized a huge amount of money from its depositors.

The collapse a year ago of the giant ponzi scheme, which offered massive returns of 40 per cent and more, had triggered huge protests; three investors had committed suicide.

A Ponzi scheme is a fraudulent investment operation that pays out returns to investors based on inflows of money put in by other savers, and is liable to collapse if receipts dry up.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had announced a Rs. 500 crore fund to compensate investors and said that she would increase taxes on cigarettes by 10 % to raise money.

The Central Bureau of Investigation(CBI) on Wednesday June 04,2014 registered 46 First Information Reports(FIRs) in the Saradha chit fund scam. 

Among those named are businessman Sudipta Sen, who headed the Saradha Group, and Kunal Ghosh, the Trinamool Congress MP who was sacked after the scam surfaced.

 In this first set of FIRs, the CBI has registered three cases in West Bengal and 43 in Odisha with charges that include criminal conspiracy (120-B of the IPC), cheating (420) and breach of trust (405). 

Apart from Sudipta Sen and Kunal Ghosh, who headed the Saradha group's media companies, cases have also been registered against Debjani Banerjee (Executive Director), Manoj Nagel (Director), Aurobindo Chauhan, Somnath Datta, Arth Tatwa chief Pradip Sethi and Seashore Group head Prasant Das. Cases against the last two were filed in Odisha.

Sudipta Sen and Kunal Ghosh are in jail.