Saradha scam: Cornered Kunal Ghosh names Mamata

KOLKATA: Fearing arrest any day for his alleged connections in the Saradha scam, suspended Trinamool leader Kunal Ghosh dropped a bombshell on Friday by dragging party supremo Mamata Banerjee's name in the Ponzi muddle. Pointing out Saradha CEO Sudipta Sen's proximity with the chief minister, the Rajya Sabha MP claimed that Sen floated the media houses to help Mamata become the Prime Minister.

"'Madam, apni CM theke PM hoben, ami media house ke seibhabei sajachchhi. (Madam, I am setting up my media house in a way that it helps you become the PM).' This is what Sudipta Sen told Mamata," Ghosh claimed at a hurriedly called press meet at his Sukeas Street residence.

Police went to his house late Friday night, triggering speculation of his arrest. This came soon after Bidhannagar police commissioner Rajeev Kumar met the home secretary at Nabanna, say sources.

Earlier in the day, Kunal had called the CID probe into the Saradha muddle a "premeditated move" and claimed that the disappearance of the Saradha CEO within hours of the scam coming to light was part of a pre-planned script.

He alleged that the police questioning him "take orders" from Trinamool general secretary Mukul Roy.

The journalist-turned-MP held that the direction of investigation was chalked out by those "high above" and there has not been any effort to find out the real culprits. "I want Rajiv Kumar (Bidhannagar Police commissioner), who takes orders from Mukul Roy, to arrest me. I will not plead for anticipatory bail," Ghosh said. He held that those who "benefitted the most" from Saradha scam are now being "worshipped" across the state while he is being made the scapegoat.

Ghosh said he will now write to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh demanding a CBI probe into the multi-crore scam. "Tell me who was unaware of media houses of Saradha group? Who compelled Saradha to become a party organ? ...I alerted everyone but no action was taken as they wanted the media house to run till the panchayat election was over," the MP said.

Ghosh's salvo met with reticence among Trinamool circles. "He (Kunal Ghosh) is currently under suspension. We choose not to respond to his comments," said party spokesperson Derek O'Brien.

However, Ghosh's demand for CBI inquiry was lapped up by rebel Trinamool MP Somen Mitra. "Our chief minister is a symbol of honesty. She should accept the demand and recommend a CBI inquiry on her own," said Mitra.

Left in the lurch, Ghosh broke down while talking to the media, saying that the Bidhannagar Police has threatened to arrest him if he fails to come up with a satisfactory reply on where the Saradha money has been stashed other than his media ventures. "I know nothing about Sen's funds. So it is not possible for me to give such details. I am not disturbed with the agencies questioning me. I am hurt because those who I trusted have backstabbed me," he said.

Before going to Biddhannagar Police Commissionerate on Saturday for further questioning, the suspended leader promised to take a few more names other than the three - Madan Mitra, a retired IPS officer and a media house owner - he took earlier, and tell the media what he told the police. Ghosh refused to divulge any name before he gets them recorded with the police commissionerate.

The MP wanted the investigators to find out whose envoy met Sudipta Sen before the letter was written to CBI. "I am sure Sen was compelled to write the letter to CBI. It was not his deliberate decision. Even his disappearance into a village in UP was preplanned," Ghosh claimed.
Courtesy:
TNN Nov 23, 2013, 02.39AM IST
http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-11-23/kolkata/44389436_1_saradha-scam-cbi-inquiry-media-houses

Sardha Chit Fund Scam: CBI willing to probe Saradha, Didi says no

Kolkata: While the CBI said that it is willing to take over the investigation into the multi-crore Saradha Group scam, the Mamata Banerjee government on Friday opposed, saying it was “premature” and called the plea in the Calcutta high court “politically motivated”.

“The police have acted promptly, commensurate with the urgency of the situation. There has been no laxity on the part of the state respondents in investigation. The main accused have been arrested. At this stage credibility of the investigation cannot be doubted,” said the state government’s affidavit submitted to the court.

“The state government has so far undertaken no covert or overt action to shield anybody,” it said, denying allegations by the petitioner that efforts are on to shield influential people allegedly involved in the matter. The court asked the government counsel to file a status report in the next hearing.

CBI counsel Himanshu Dutta told the court that the central agency is ready to take over probe if there is a judicial directive.

Sebi also filed an application before the division bench on Friday saying it had passed an order on April 23 to Saradha Realty to wind up all its operations, including those of its group companies, and refund the depositors’ money within three months. Saradha has been barred from mobilizing any fresh deposits or transacting in the securities and share markets.

Meanwhile as the probe progressed, Saradha CMD Sudipta Sen’s most trusted aide, Debjani Mukherjee, has helped police trace several immovable properties of the Group. On Friday, Bidhannagar City police said two more plots of land in Malda and Bankura — owned by either Saradha Group or Sen — have been identified. In the past couple of days, sleuths have seized a huge amount of documents from different Saradha offices.

However, police are yet to trace a huge amount of cash that Saradha had pooled in from depositors. On Friday, sleuths interrogated Sen and Debjani for more than three hours. With the help of corporate affairs experts and chartered accountants, police are now going through Saradha’s account details. But after initial probe, police have reasons to believe that Sen had either destroyed a large part of related documents or never maintained an account.
Courtesy:
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=TOINEW&BaseHref=TOIM/2013/05/04&PageLabel=13&EntityId=Ar01302&ViewMode=HTML

How Sudipta Sen’s plan stumped Sebi

Kolkata: Ponzi mastermind Sudipta Sen can claim a mention in the record books as the fastest fund operator to have parked his ill gotten money in as many as 250 companies within and outside the Saradha Group. Even his cook Hemanta Pradhan was made a director in 96 companies, across all major trades under the sun.

Investigation into the Saradha scam has revealed how Sen went on a takeover spree — picking up major shares in listed companies — to hide his assets from the Sebi scanner.

For instance, Sen and his aide Debjani Mukherjee took over Vibgyor Media for Rs 2 crore and became its directors. Since Vibgyor had 17% stakes in Bio White Gold, the two became shareholders of the listed company. Sen and Debjani sold the shares to Suryamukhi General Finance within a few months, shifting all the money from selling the shares to a secret account, say sources. The operation was planned so meticulously that investigators are going through sleepless nights trying to locate the hidden accounts.

Interestingly, his entry and exit from each company took place within a financial year —usually before the end of the fiscal — so that when companies filed their annual report to the registrar of companies, Sen was out with his crores parked elsewhere. The sole purpose was to avoid financial surveillance.

Why did Sen take this route? 
Documents with TOI reveal that Sebi started following his companies in April 2010. Within nine months, Sen launched his strategy to hoodwink Sebi — he started floating or acquiring companies in a frenzy. In December he owned 25 such companies, and 90 in January 2011. Between January and February 2011, Debjani became director of 40 companies and Sen’s son Subhojit became director of around 30 companies. Sen started entering the equity market through these companies.

Police question TMC MP Kunal Ghosh
Kolkata: Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha MP Kunal Ghosh was questioned by police for two hours on Monday in the Saradha meltdown probe even as two fresh complaints were lodged by former employees of Channel 10 and Sakalbela. Ghosh was the CEO of the Saradha Group Media. He insisted he was “merely a salaried employee”.
Courtesy:
Rohit Khanna TNN
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Chit fund: Didi blames Centre

Says She Did Not Know What Saradha Was Up To Till 3 Months Ago

Kolkata: When chief minister Mamata Banerjee decided to speak on the Saradha Group bust on Monday, it was a great opportunity to soothe the lakhs of families ruined by the alleged scam. They would have expected words of hope. Or just kind words. But what they saw was a CM on the counter-attack. And what they heard was a strong defence of her partymen, some of whom had links with Saradha, and a strident onslaught on the CPM and the Centre for the mess.

Mamata said her government did not have a clue about the money laundering crisis until a letter from the Sebi, with a CBI report, reached Bidhannagar police after April 15. She blamed the CPM for drafting a weak anti-chit-fund bill and the Centre for not using its powers to stop Saradha from taking money from people.

The CM announced a double-pronged probe — by a special investigation team under the DGP and an inquiry commission under Justice (retd) Shyamal Sen.

Mamata repeatedly claimed that the state government cannot take action on its own because of a “flaw” during the Left regime. “Little can be done unless the Centre sends back the bill that the Left Front government had sent for Presidential consent in 2003,” the CM said.

The CM lost her cool when asked about the role of some Trinamool MPs. “One can’t blame people who worked for the company. The CPM is raising this issue but I have details of how many Page 1 advertisements Ganashakti received from this company. They got the most advertisements,” she said.

She also claimed that she was not aware of what the Saradha Group was up to till about three months ago.

TMC hand-in-glove with group companies: CPM
New Delhi:In search of issues to put the Trinamool government on the mat, the CPM on Monday said the ruling party in West Bengal is hand-in-glove with chit-fund companies that have looted the poor people and caused a huge crisis in the state.

The CPM said it has been warning the Centre for long about the impending crisis. Sitaram Yechury said a delegation of Left MPs had met the PM last December and apprised him of the situation.Basudeb Acharia, CPM leader in the LS, said most of the chit-fund companies have close relations with the TMC. He said that the brand ambassador of the Saradha Group was a Trinamool MP. TNN
Courtesy:
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
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Sebi contradicts Bengal, says Saradha under lens since 2010

Regulator has banned group CMD from accessing the capital markets till money realised so far is refunded to the investors.

In a startling series of disclosures in the Saradha Realty case, market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has disclosed that the company was under investigation since 2010, contradicting the claim of the state government.

The company was under the investigation of Sebi since April 23, 2010, when the director, Economic Offences Investigation Cell of the Government of West Bengal had sent a formal complaint. Over the weekend, state chief minister Mamata Banerjee had said she was unaware that Saradha was under any investigation.

The letter from the state government office informed Sebi that Saradha Realty India Ltd "is collecting contributions of monies from the public particularly in rural areas of the state of West Bengal". The regulator revealed the details on Tuesday in its order banning Saradha chief Sudipta Sen from accessing the capital markets till the money realised so far is refunded to the investors. In the order issued by Sebi whole-time member Rajiv Agarwal, the regulator has said unless the money is refunded and the details approved by it West Bengal government will be approached to register cases against Saradha Realty India and its directors (which includes Sen) for apparent offences of fraud, cheating, criminal breach of trust and misappropriation of public funds.

Despite Sebi's instructions, Sen has repeatedly sent cartons of papers that the regulator noted was "a strategy to avoid submitting the specific information". In another communication to Sebi, Sen also claimed his company is unable to refund money to investors since its data is stored in servers at Boston, USA, and "is under the control of staff members and brokers".

Sen made the surprising claim earlier this month in a letter denying the accusation that it is running a collective investment scheme without any permission. Instead the company has contended "it is unable to locate the actual investors and identify the money due to the acts of unscrupulous staff members and brokers" who have taken control of the server at Boston.

The company repeatedly denied it ran an investment scheme claiming instead that it was realty firm. Sebi member Agarwal's order shows the company was unable to prove this at all and has passed the order accordingly.

Cracking down
Saradha Realty was under investigation since April 23, 2010, when the director, Economic Offences Investigation Cell of West Bengal had sent a complaint

Recently, state chief minister Mamata Banerjee had said she was unaware that Saradha was under any investigation
Courtesy:
ENS Economic Bureau : New Delhi, Wed Apr 24 2013, 02:15 hrs
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/sebi-contradicts-bengal-says-saradha-under-lens-since-2010/1106862/0