Kolkata: Sudipta Sen, the man whose chit fund went bust earlier this month, wiping out the savings of lakhs of depositors in West Bengal, is being escorted by the police to Kolkata from Kashmir, where he was tracked down yesterday.
Here are 10 big developments in this story:
Mr Sen, who is 54, had been missing for over a week. He was located at a hotel near Srinagar allegedly after a tip-off from his driver. (Read: How Sudipta Sen was traced and caught)
He was found with two colleagues including Debjani Mukhopadhyay, a director in his group who was known for her proximity to her boss. (Read: Debjani, the woman behind Sudipta Sen)
Mr Sen has reportedly sent an 18-page letter to the CBI describing his close links with two Trinamool MPs Srinjoy Bose and Kunal Ghosh. He has reportedly also alleged that he was blackmailed by the MPs. Many members of the Trinamool are urging party chief and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to ask for the resignation of party Mr Ghosh, who headed the Saradha Group's media interests.
Kunal Ghosh has said that he was only a "salaried employee" and knew nothing about the chit fund. Mr Bose has also denied the allegations against him. Trinamool chief and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has said that agents accusing her party of links to Saradha actually belong to her political rival, the Left.
The collapse of the Saradha empire has left lakhs of small investors and collection agents financially stranded, many of who say they put their money and faith in the Saradha Group because Trinamool leaders appeared to be associated with it. (Read: How Saradha duped its investors)
Trinamool MP, Shatabdi Roy, features in Saradha's promotional material. The Opposition points out that Ms Banerjee had inaugurated two Saradha publications last year.
An official estimate says Saradha had mopped up about Rs 1200 crore through its chit funds, but some calculations put that the figure closer to Rs 4000 crore.
The schemes offered to investors were simple and attractive. An investor could invest as little as 100 rupees and there was no upper limit. Saradha promised returns unheard of - 15 per cent to 50 per cent. It also promised land and fancy holidays, always with the assurance that if it failed to deliver it would give cash.
It was a classic Ponzi scheme. With the money it collected, Saradha did not create the assets it promised it would. It merely used the money it collected from one depositor to pay off another. No assets were created.
Market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India or SEBI has barred Saradha Realty, a group company, from the securities market, ordering it to wind up all its existing investment schemes and refund investors within three months. (Read)
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