The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has summoned Bengali superstar Prosenjit Chatterjee in connection with the multi-crore Rose Valley scam, in which many big names have surfaced previously.
The ED has asked Prosenjit to appear before them on July 19 to investigate whether any monetary transaction took place between him and Gautam Kundu, the chairman of the Rose Valley group.
Actor Prosenjit Chatterjee summoned by Enforcement Directorate in connection with Rose Valley scam case. He has been asked to appear before ED on July 19. pic.twitter.com/7BTl1LUkQv
— ANI (@ANI) July 9, 2019
According to reports, the Rose Valley group had produced several Bengali films between the year 2010 and 2012. One of the films produced by the chit fund company, named ‘Hangover’, starred Prosenjit Chatterjee. Sources believe that the total expense of the movie was less than Rs 5 lakh. The probe by the agency revealed that Rose Valley, on papers, undervalued the film’s production cost and used depositors money to fund the movie.
Moreover, Prosenjit Chatterjee has been regularly spotted at many Rose Valley events with the main accused Gautam Kundu.
The ED registered a case on the basis of an FIR filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The agency is investigating the cases against Rose Valley Group of Companies, run by the Group’s Chairman Gautam Kundu, for laundering of funds received from the public by way of Ponzi scheme.
The entities affiliated to the group collected large sums of money from gullible investors promising them astronomical returns. The company also allegedly made cross investments in its various sister firms to escape its liability towards its investors.
According to the ED estimates, the Rose Valley scandal is at least five times the Saradha ponzi scam. The group allegedly floated 27 companies to run various schemes. It allegedly collected Rs.17,520 crore from depositors in West Bengal, Assam and Bihar.
The agency had registered an FIR against its Chairman Gautam Kundu and others under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act in 2014 and arrested him on March 25, 2015. The ED also attached his assets worth Rs 2,300 crore, including hotels and resorts. Multiple charge sheets had been filed by the ED in the courts of Kolkata and Bhubaneswar.
Chief of Shree Venkatesh Films and Mamata Banerjee’s close aide, Srikant Mohta had been arrested in January 2019 by the CBI in connection with the Rose Valley scam. The Bengali film producer and distributor was then interrogated by the CBI at his offices. He was served a notice by the agency regarding “acceptance of money from Rose Valley”.
Apart from these, several top leaders of the Trinamool Congress are named in the chit fund scam and facing investigation.
The ED had earlier also interrogated TMC leader Madan Mitra in connection with the scandal. He was interrogated for more than four hours.
Mitra, who was the then transport minister and believed to be a close aide of WB Chief Minister, Mamata Banerjee, was arrested in 2014 by the Central Bureau of Investigation for his alleged connection with the multi-crore Saradha Ponzi scam. He served a jail term of over 21 months before getting bail.
Last year, the ED had rounded up actor turned TMC MP Tapas Pal in connection to the same scam and interrogated him for over 9 hours. Pal was the director of the film division of the Rose Valley Group.
Previously, Tapas Pal was interrogated by CBI in connection with the Rose Valley Chit Fund scam case in 2015. In December 2016 Pal was arrested by the CBI and was kept in judicial custody. He was granted bail in February 2018.
