On Friday (February 3), the Enforcement Directorate (ED) informed that it has attached [pdf] properties belonging to Nalini Chidambaram, the wife of Congress leader P Chidambaram, in connection to the Saradha scam case.
As per reports, Nalini Chidambaram was hired as a consultant by the Head of the Saradha Group of companies, Sudipta Sen, during the UPA era. She was roped in to advise the group of companies in dealing with financial regulators and pending cases.
The Enforcement Directorate is now probing Nalini Chidambaram in connection to the investments made by Sudipta Sen in media ventures in Northeast India.
#BREAKING | ED attaches assets of Nalini Chidambaram, wife of Congress leader P Chidambaram, in Saradha money laundering case. #SaradhaScam #SaradhaGroupFinancialScandal pic.twitter.com/g02D3N1Vqc
— Republic (@republic) February 3, 2023
In a press release, the central agency said it has provisionally attached movable and immovable assets worth ₹3.30 crores and ₹3 crores respectively under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.
“These properties were owned by Saradha Group and other persons, who were beneficiaries of Proceeds of Crime generated by Saradha Group of Companies,” Enforcement Directorate pointed out. It further informed, “The beneficiaries include Smt. Nalini Chidambaram, Debabrata Sarkar, Debendranath Biswas (Ex IPS and ex MLA CPM) and M/s Anubhuti Printers and Publications owned by Late Shri Anjan Dutta, ex-Minister in Assam.”
So far, the Enforcement Directorate has attached properties totalling 600 crores in connection to the Saradha chit fund case.
Saradha chit fund case
The Saradha scam broke out into the open in 2013 when a ponzi scheme run by the Saradha Group, a consortium of over 200 private companies, collapsed after collecting hundreds and thousands of crores from over 15 lakh investors.
Sudipta Sen, in a confessional letter to the CBI in 2013 had made several claims with far-reaching political implications. In the letter, Sen claimed that he had not only paid hefty pay-out amounts to Trinamool leaders but also to influential Congress leader in Assam Matang Sinh.
On December 1, 2020, Sen wrote a handwritten letter from his cell in the Presidency jail, detailing the amounts allegedly taken from him by several politicians belonging to the Congress, BJP, Trinamool Congress and the CPI (M).
In a 2-page letter, the Saradha kingpin had alleged that MP and President of West Bengal Congress Committee, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, had received ₹6 crores from him.
He also claimed that CPI (M) leaders Sujan Chakraborty and Biman Bose had illegally benefitted to the tune of ₹9 crores and ₹2 crores respectively.
