300 bank accounts, 200 firms used to commit Saradha scam: ED
June 08, 2014  13:07

A complicated maze of 338 bank accounts and 224 companies was used by the perpetrators of the Saradha chitfund scam which is alleged to have duped numerous investors of their hard earned monies in various states including West Bengal, Odisha and Assam.        

 

The Enforcement Directorate (ED), which has been probing  the Saradha scam under money laundering laws, has put together the jigsaw puzzle through which the Saradha group and its sister companies conducted the alleged dubious business transactions which came to light early last year after investors raised their voice and said they were cheated.        

 

In one of the most voluminous investigations being carried out by the agency involving lakhs of multi-layered transactions, it was allegedly found that "more than 90 per cent of such companies existed only on paper and only 17 companies out of the 224 companies actually had carried out some business."        

 

The rest, investigators claimed, were floated as "dummies" to act as cover for unleashing the alleged ponzi scheme.  

 

The latest ED probe report has ascertained that the laundering amount in this case amounts close to Rs 1983.02 crore and it has identified it as "proceeds of crime" as stipulated under the criminal provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.  

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