CBI conducts searches at 58 locations in Mahrashtra, Pune in chit fund scam

IN a major crackdown against the Pune-headquartered Samruddha Jeevan Group of companies, the CBI Tuesday conducted searches at 58 places linked to the company. Besides 40 locations in Pune, raids were conducted at Nasik, Aurangabad and Solapur. Some locations in Odisha were also raided. The searches were conducted in connection with investigations into two alleged chit fund cases registered in Odisha. The searches came a day after Chairman and Managing Director of the company, Mahesh Motewar, was arrested in connection with a cheating case lodged in 2012. Motewar had been declared an absconder in the case. A senior CBI officer said, “Samruddha Jeevan is one of the chit fund companies that had allegedly collected money from investors without any valid legal authority to do so. Searches are being conducted on office premises of Samrudhha Jeevan and its sister companies, residential premises of the directors and others connected to the company.” [related-post] The raided locations included offices of Marathi and Hindi TV channels run by the company. Several documents related to chit fund schemes were seized during the searches, said sources. A senior CBI officer from Odisha, who was at one of the raid locations, said, “More than 300 officers and personnel of the are part of these searches which are being carried out as per Supreme Court directives.” When The Indian Express tried to speak to staffers at the Samruddha Jeevan Group office in Shivajinagar, they said only routine audits were being carried out. In 2013, the SEBI barred directors of the company from raising money from investors. The company had been collecting money from small investors — mostly from rural and semi-urban areas and from economically-weaker background — after promising them huge returns. Meanwhile, Motewar, who was arrested Monday, was remanded in three days’ police custody by Umarga court on Tuesday.