The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached the properties of Saradha Group of companies in West Bengal and Odisha worth Rs.35.4 crore. A statement issued by the directorate on Wednesday said the ED eastern region had registered cases against Saradha Group of Companies in Kolkata, Bhubaneshwar, and Guwahati under the provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
Based on the details collected on the ponzi scheme scam, the ED had attached properties worth Rs. 34 crore in West Bengal and Rs. 1.4 crore in Odisha. The attached assets included buildings, bank accounts and landed properties held in the name of Saradha group and its directors. The ED also attached the equity shares of Broadcast Worldwide Limited (Tara TV channels).
The ED is in the process of identifying other channels and end points of money laundering, the statement said. Sudipta Sen, chairman of the now defunct ponzy scheme company, was last week sentenced by a Kolkata court to three years in jail. Saradha, one of eastern India’s biggest deposit-taking firms, went bust in April last year after it defaulted on depositor repayment to thousands of investors.
