Assets worth Rs 35 crore have been attached in connection with the 2013 Saradha chit fund money laundering case of West Bengal, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) said on Tuesday. The attached assets are in the form of vehicles, buildings, flats and bungalows in Bishnupur, plots of land in districts like South 24 Parganas, Nadia, Cooch Behar and Jalpaiguri, it said in a statement. The "book value" of these properties is Rs 35 crore, the ED said. With this, the total value of attachment in this case stands around Rs 640 crore. "These properties were either owned by the Saradha Group or proceeds of crime were invested in such properties (Saradha Group having paid full advance to vendors)," the probe agency said.
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The Saradha group is alleged to have run a chit fund scam with operations spread in West Bengal, Assam and Odisha till 2013. It is alleged to have cheated thousands of depositors, promising abnormally high returns on investments in its illegal schemes. The anti-money laundering agency filed a criminal case in 2013 after studying the Kolkata Police FIRs against the group and its promoters. According to the ED, the quantum of total money mobilised by this group company is about Rs 2,459 crore out of which about Rs 1,983 crore remains unpaid to the depositors to date (excluding the interest amount). A charge sheet or prosecution complaint was filed by the agency in March 2016 followed by a supplementary charge sheet that was filed in August last year. An attachment under PMLA is aimed to deprive the accused from obtaining benefits of his ill-gotten wealth and such an order can be appealed before the Adjudicating Authority of the said Act within 180 days.
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