New Delhi: On Saturday, the government gave Rs 515 crore to the asset disposal committee to restore the assets to 7.5 lakh victims, raising expectations for millions in the Rose Valley Ponzi scam in West Bengal.
So far, about 31 lakh claims have been registered by the Committee appointed by the Calcutta High Court, and Rs 22 crore has been restored to 32,319 investors.
Junior Union Finance Minister Pankaj Chaudhary handed over the check for the amount attached by the Enforcement Directorate to DK Seth, Chairman of the Committee. In addition, the attached movable of Rs 2,000 crore and immovable property is currently under liquidation, which will be used to return to poor people who lost their investment in the chit fund scam.
Millions of people in West Bengal, Odisha, Assam and Tripura had invested their life savings in the scheme, which was a Ponzi scam by some influential people, allegedly, according to Ed, in Nexus with top politicians associated with Trinomool Congress. Investors were promised to allocate land in hotels, or share time. And, in the event of inability to share the land/time, corresponds with high rates on maturity of investment.
In Rose Valley Scam, the accused collected more than Rs 17,500 crore, mostly from poor people. Ed said that the fund had more than Rs 6,700 crore unpaid and outstanding to investors, which was closed by the criminals of the scam, and invested in individual assets.
ED director Rahul Naveen and other senior officials of the agency were also present on the occasion when this money was handed over to the ADC. Ed said in a statement, “This is one of the biggest investigations conducted by the ED, and an order passed by the Special Court (PMLA) in Khurda, Bhubaneswar on March 29, has paved the way for investors to return money across the country through ADC.”
The agency further stated that the restoration process is expected to continue in full swing in the coming months as more claims are being tested and valid by ADC. Ed said, “The immediate restoration is in line with PM Modi’s commitment, to return the money looted from poor people,” Ed said.
