In its biggest such action against a Ponzi scheme firm, the Enforcement Directorate on Thursday, attached 2,631 accounts of the Rose Valley Group involving Rs. 295 crore, under Section 5 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act
The attachment order was issued by the Kolkata Zonal office under a strict international protocol, of which India is a member.
While the Saradha group was the most publicised among the firms which had engaged in unauthorised deposit raising from the public, Rose Valley had cast its net deep and wide, raising an estimated Rs. 15,000 crore through various schemes in West Bengal, Tripura, Assam, Odisha, Jharkhand, New Delhi and Maharashtra. Saradha is estimated to have raised around Rs. 500 crore.
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Sources said that speedy attachments, involving cash, raises hopes of tracing the funds and returning the amount to the duped investors.
In case of Saradha, six attachment orders were issued but they involved insurance policies, immovable properties and the like which are not easy to evaluate or monetise. In its next step, the ED would file its charge sheet against Rose Valley promoters.
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The Directorate had been investigating Rose Valley’s affairs for the last six months, it was learnt. Rose Valley promoter Gautam Kundu was grilled by the investigating authorities many times.
The company was found to have floated over two dozen companies, only half of which were active. It has financed movies and has also promoted tourism projects, which were projected before the people to gain their confidence.
Market regulator, Securities and Exchange Board of India, has been probing Rose Valley and had passed orders asking it to stop engaging in illegal collective investment schemes and wind them up. However, the company resorted to legal measures to skirt around the order. Recently a court dismissed its appeal.