CBI files first charge sheet in Saradha scam case

KOLKATA | NEW DELHI: The Central Bureau of Investigation ( CBI) filed its first chargesheet in the multi-crore Saradha deposit scam on Wednesday, naming group chief Sudipto Sen, company director Debjani Mukherjee and suspended Trinamool Congress parliamentarian Kunal Ghose. The charges against them include cheating and conspiracy.

Four group companies and one headed by Ghose, Strategy Media, have also been named in the chargesheet. Further investigations into the role of other persons will continue.

The scandal broke in April 2013 when Saradha’s offices suddenly closed across West Bengal and it was unable to pay back around 17 lakh depositors, mainly poor people in small towns and villages who had parked their life’s savings with the group lured by the promise of huge returns.

Ghosh has alleged that key politicians of the ruling Trinamool Congress were also involved and that chief minister Mamata Banerjee was aware of the matter.

On October 20, the Enforcement Directorate attached properties worth Rs100 crore belonging to the Saradha group.

The CBI filed the chargesheet at the metropolitan magistrate’s court in Kolkata a few days short of three months after launching its probe into the scam. The three accused could have been granted bail if the charges hadn’t been filed within 90 days of the case being taken over by the agency.