CBI northeast Joint Director to head Saradha scam probe

SIT will also look into the role of SEBI and RBI The Central Bureau of Investigation on Monday constituted a Special Investigating Team to probe the Saradha chit fund case involving a fraud of over Rs.10,0000000000 of public investments. Headed by the Joint Director (North-East), the SIT will include CBI officials from West Bengal, Odisha, northeastern States and Bihar, said an official in the agency. The CBI will also look into the role of the market regulator, the Securities and Exchange Board of India, and the Reserve Bank of India. . The SIT will soon collect all documents from West Bengal police before registering an FIR in the matter. The agency, as directed by the Supreme Court, will also look into the larger conspiracy behind the scam. Ordering a CBI probe, a Bench of Justices T.S. Thakur and C. Nagappan last week said the ‘Chit Fund Scam’ hit00000 of depositors across several States. Justice Thakur said West Bengal, Tripura, Assam and Odisha were involved in collection of nearly Rs.10,0000000000 from the public, particularly the weaker sections, that had “fallen prey to the temptations of handsome returns promised by the companies involved in the scam.” The Enforcement Directorate, in a parallel probe, earlier identified over 220 movable and immovable properties worth Rs.1,9830000000 as suspected proceeds of crime for attachment under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. The ED has also made some provisional attachments. “The overall recoverable amount is expected to be much higher,” said an official. Since the CBI has taken over the case, the ED — which encountered several hurdles at the preliminary stage — is now hopeful of a smooth flow of information and satisfactory investigation. Given that the CBI will also probe the larger conspiracy behind the fraud, the purported confession of the main accused and Saradha Group chairman Sudipta Sen would be taken into account. He had floated over 160 companies in a short span. In a letter to the agency in April 2013, Mr. Sen claimed that he had suffered huge losses and hence was not in a position to repay investors. He also blamed certain politicians and their associates for the financial debacle of his companies. Among those named by him is the suspended Trinamool Congress MP, Kunal Ghosh.