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Saradha Group financial scandal From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Former type
Privately owned
Industry
Financial services, infrastructure management, automobiles, manufacturing
Genre
Deposit mobilising company
Fate
Allegations that this consortium of companies is a Ponzi scheme
Founder(s)
Sudipto Sen
Defunct
April 2013
Headquarters Kolkata, West Bengal, India
Key people
Sudipto Sen, Chairman & MD Debjani Mukherjee, Director
Kunal Ghosh, CEO, Media Div.
Employees
5000+
Divisions
Saradha Realty Saradha Exports Global automobileso Saradha media group
saradhagroup.com
Website
The Saradha Group financial scandal is a financial scam which was caused by the collapse of a Ponzi scheme run by Saradha Group, a consortium of Indian companies which was believed to be running a wide variety of collective investment schemes (popularly but incorrectly referred to as chit fund)
[1][2][3]
[4]
in Eastern India.
300 billion (US$4–6 billion)
The group collapsed in April 2013, causing an estimated loss of INR 200–
[5][6]
to over 1.7 million depositors.
[7]
In the aftermath of the financial scandal,
the State government of West Bengal set up an inquiry commission to investigate the collapse
[8]
and also
set up a fund of INR 5 billion (92 million USD) to ensure that low income investors are not [9]
bankrupted.
The Union Governmentalso launched a multi-agency probe to investigate the Saradha
scam, as well as other similar Ponzi schemes.
[10]
Contents [hide]
1 Background
2 Modus operandi of Saradha
o
2.1 Financial operations
o
2.2 Building brand and non-financial businesses
o
2.3 Political patronage
o
2.4 Key people
3 Collapse and unravelling of the scam
4 Aftermath and reactions
o
4.1 State government reaction
4.1.1 West Bengal Government
4.1.2 Assam Government
4.1.3 Odisha Government
4.1.4 Sikkim Government
4.1.5 Tripura Government
o
4.2 Central government reaction
o
4.3 Political reactions and protests
o
4.4 Judicial reactions
o
4.5 Macroeconomic and microeconomic effects
5 Criminal prosecution and ongoing investigations
o
5.1 Justice Shyamal Sen Commission
6 References
Background[edit source | editbeta] See also: Banking in India India has a very large low-income rural population with low access to formal banking facilities.
[11]
A web of
parallel informal banking arose to fill the vacuum. At its centre weremoneylenders, who used to charge exorbitant rates of interest, this practice was greatly curbed by several Moneylenders Acts enacted by state governments in the 1950s. However, the fundamental failure to replace the role of moneylenders gave rise to fly-by-night financial operators who ran Ponzi schemes in various disguises.
[12]
However
some commentators place the blame for these kinds of Ponzi schemes on greed rather than exclusion from formal banking systems.
[13]
The relatively prosperous rural economy of West Bengal had previously relied on small savings schemes run by Indian Postal Service. However, low rates of interest in the 1980s and 90s encouraged the rise of several Ponzi schemes in speculative ventures such as Sanchayita Investments, Overland Investment Company, Verona Credit and Commercial Investment Company. Together, these scams eliminated close to 10 billion INR in investor wealth.
[14][15]
In spite of this history of Ponzi schemes, the continuing decline in interest rates, rapid financialisation of household savings, lack of financial literacy and investor awareness, political patronage, absence of adequate legal deterrence, and regulatory arbitrage encouraged the growth of similar companies.
[16]
These companies either raised their funds through legitimate channels such as collective
investment schemes, non-convertible debentures and preference shares; or illegitimately through hoax financial instruments such as teak bonds or potato bonds or fictitious ventures in agro-export, construction, manufacturing etc. Complaints have been filed against more than 8 out of every 10 multilevel marketing and finance schemes in West Bengal, giving the state the sordid title of 'Ponzi capital of
[17]
India'.
It is estimated that these ponzi funds have all-together amassed around INR 10 trillion (short
scale) (200 billion USD) from unsuspecting depositors in Eastern India.
[18]
Modus operandi of Saradha[edit source | editbeta] Financial operations[edit source | editbeta] The companies which made up Saradha Group were incorporated in 2006. Its name is a cacography of Sarada Devi, a highly revered spiritual icon of the region and the wife and spiritual [19]
counterpart of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, a nineteenth-century mystic of Bengal. gave Saradha Group a veneer of respectability.
This association
[20]
Like all Ponzi schemes, Saradha Group promised astronomical returns in fanciful but credible investments.
[21]
Its funds were sold on commission by agents who were recruited from local rural
communities. As much as 25–40% of the deposit was returned to these agents as commissions and [22]
lucrative gifts to quickly build up a wide agent pyramid.
To keep ahead of regulators, the group used a
[23]
nexus of companies to launder money.
Initially, the front-line companies collected money from the public by issuing secured [24]
debentures and redeemable preferential bonds.
However, under Indian Securities regulations and
section 67 of the Indian Companies Act, a company cannot raise capital from more than 50 people without issuing a proper prospectus and balance sheet. Its s must be audited. It must also have [25]
explicit permission from the market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).
SEBI first challenged Saradha Group in 2009. Saradha Group responded by opening as many as 300 new companies to create more cross-holdings. This created an extremely complex tiered corporate structure which made it difficult to pin blame on any one company. However, SEBI persisted in its investigation through 2010.
[27]
[26]
In response, Saradha Group changed its
methods of raising capital. In West Bengal, Jharkhand, Assam andChattisgarh, it now ran variations of collective investment schemes (CIS), such as tourism packages, forward travel and hotel booking timeshare credit transfer, real estate, infrastructure finance, and motorcycle manufacturing
[28][29]
The investors were rarely informed about the true nature of the investments. Instead,
many investors were told only that they would get high returns after a fixed period.
[30]
To other investors,
the investment was fraudulently sold as a form of 'chit fund'. Under the Chit Fund Act (1982), chit funds are regulated by state governments rather than SEBI.
[31]
After SEBI warned the state government of West Bengal about Saradha Group's apparent chit fund activities in 2011,
[32]
Saradha Group changed its methods again. This time, it acquired and sold large
numbers of shares of various listed companies, siphoning off the proceeds of the sale to s which have not yet been identified.
[33]
By 2012, SEBI was able to identify the group's activities as CIS, not chit fund, and demanded that it immediately stop operating its investment schemes until it received proper permission from [32]
SEBI.
However, Saradha Group ignored SEBI, and continued to operate in the same manner until it
collapsed in April 2013.
[34]
Building brand and non-financial businesses[edit source | editbeta] Like previous Ponzi schemes, Saradha Group invested strongly in building its brand. With enormous funds at its disposal, Saradha invested in high visibility sectors, such as the Bengali film [35]
industry,
where it recruited famous actress and Trinamool Congress (TMC) Member of
parliament Satabdi Roy as its brand ambassador.
[36]
Saradha Group also recruited Kunal Ghosh, another Trinamool Congress Member of parliament, to act as the CEO of the media group.
[36]
Under Kunal Ghosh, the group went on an unprecedented spree of
buying and establishing local television channels and newspapers. By 2013 it employed over 1500 journalists and owned eight newspapers in five languages: Bengal Post, Seven Sisters Post (English dailies), Kalom (Bengali daily), Prabhat Varta (Hindi daily), Baturi (Assamese daily),
[38]
[39]
Sakalbela, Azad Hind
[37]
Ajir Dainik
and Parama (Bengali dailies). It also owned two
Bengali news channels (Tara Newz and Channel 10), two Bengali general entertainment channels (Tara Muzic andTara Bangla)
[40]
and one FM radio station.
[41]
In 2011, Saradha Group bought Global Automobiles, a heavily indebted motorcycle company, to front the latest version of its Ponzi scheme. Even though the company immediately stopped most production, it kept 150 workers on payroll who "pretended to work whenever truckloads and busloads of prospective depositors of Saradha Realty visited the plant for a first-hand check before investing."
[42]
It also bought
similar shell companies like West Bengal Awadhoot Agro Private Ltd in North 24-Parganas and Landmark Cement in Bankura to showcase them to agents and depositors and convince them that the Saradha Group had diversified interests.
[43]
As part of its corporate social responsibility program, Saradha Group donated motorcycles to the Kolkata Police. On 19 July 2011, it persuaded Mamata Banerjee, the Chief Minister of West Bengal to launch its [44]
ambulances and motorcycles for the Jangalmahal area of West Midnapore.
To further etch itself in the socio-cultural milieu of Bengal, Saradha Group invested in football rivals and the best known football clubs in Bengal: Mohun Bagan A.C. (INR 18 million in 2010–11) and East Bengal F.C. (INR 35 million since 2010).
[45][46]
The group also generously sponsored various Durga
Puja celebrations organised by local political leaders.
Political patronage[edit source | editbeta]
[47][48]
Several political leaders received financial from Saradha Group, including several Trinamool Congress of Parliament. Trinamool Congress is the incumbent ruling party of West Bengal.
[21]
Member of Parliament Kunal Ghosh drew a salary of INR 1.6 million per month from Saradha Group. Member of Parliament Srinjoy Bose, son of Swapan Sadhan Bose, was directly involved with the media operations of Saradha Group.
[49]
Transport Minister Madan Mitra headed the employees' union of
Saradha Group, and publicly encouraged people to invest their savings with the company.
[50]
Sudipto Sen
reportedly spent Rs 18.6 million to buy paintings done by Mamata Banerjee, whose government later issued a notification that public libraries should buy and display newspapers of Saradha group.
[51]
The
group also had financial dealings with Ganesh Dey, the confidential assistant of the finance minister of [52]
the earstwhile Left Front government.
Politicians also benefited from Saradha Group outside West Bengal. The Health and Education Minister of Assam, Himanta Biswa Sarma, may have profited personally from the Ponzi scheme.
[53][54]
It is possible
that this Ponzi scheme only survived for so many years because of its heavy political patronage.
[55]
Key people[edit source | editbeta]
Sudipto Sen is the chairman and managing director of the Saradha Group. He was arrested in Kashmir on 23 April 2013, after having been on the run for over a week.
[56]
Sen is described as a soft-spoken, charming, yet forceful orator. He is in his mid-50s. In his youth, he had a different name, Shankaraditya Sen, and was part of the Naxalite movement in West Bengal. He changed his name to Sudipto Sen and may have had plastic surgery sometime in the 1990s,
[57]
after which he became
associated with land development projects in South Kolkata. The land bank he formed at the turn of the century became the initial vehicle for enticing early customers into his ponzi scheme.
[58]
Sen may be the son of Bhudeb Sen, who used to run a chit fund called Sanchayani in the 1980s. It went broke in 2003.
[57]
Debjani Mukhopadhdhay is one of the executive directors of Saradha Group who had the power to sign cheques on behalf of the group.
[59]
She was arrested together with Sudipto
[60]
Sen.
Debjani is in her early 30s. Her early training was as an air hostess. Although she originally ed Saradha Group in 2010 as a
receptionist, she rose rapidly to be the 'number two' in the group hierarchy.
[61]
She was well known locally for her generosity to her
community.
Collapse and unravelling of the scam[edit source | editbeta] The earliest public warnings about the reckless and fradulent CIS in West Bengal started in 2009, from of parliament Somendra Nath Mitra and Abu Hasem Khan Choudhury and West Bengal Consumer Affairs [62]
Minister Sadhan Pande.
However, apart from the SEBI
investigation, no executive actions were taken at this time. On 7 December 2012, RBI governor Duvvuri Subbarao stated that the West Bengal government should initiate suo motu action against companies which were indulging in financial malpractices.
[63]
By that time, the Saradha Group Ponzi
scheme was already beginning to unravel. In January 2013, the cash inflow of Saradha Group was less than its cash payouts for the first time. This outcome is inevitable in a Ponzi scheme which is allowed to run full course. Although Sudipta Sen tried to calm uneasy depositors and agents,
[64]
the tide had irrevocably turned.
In a letter dated 6 April 2013, Sudipto Sen wrote a 18-page [65]
confessional letter to Central Bureau of Investigation,
in
which he itted that he had paid large sums of money to several politicians.
[66]
He also stated that TMC leader Kunal
Ghosh had forced him to enter into money-losing media ventures and blackmailed him into selling one of his channels [65][67]
at below market price.
After posting this letter on 10 April,
Sen fled. In his absence, the Ponzi scheme unravelled into a full-blown crisis. On 17 April, approximately 600 collection agents claiming to be associated with Saradha Group assembled at
the headquarters of TMC and demanded government intervention. The mood of despondency quickly spread across Bengal. As described by a Times of India interviewee, "'The entire Dakshin Barasat today looks like it was hit by a cyclone. Every home has a bankrupt depositor or a fugitive agent. People who were friends have turned enemies. Happy households have become miserable. Students have stopped going to school. Traders have lost interest in opening shutters. There is a sense of treachery that has replaced the warmth of a neighbourhood. Suddenly everything has become vicious."
[64]
By this time, the Saradha Group financial scandal had colloquially become known as "Bonzi". This is a wordplay on the words Ponzi and Bengal.
[68]
On 18 April, an arrest warrant was issued for Sudipto [69]
Sen.
By 20 April, the news of potentially the largest Ponzi
scheme ever seen in India had become ongoing headline news in West Bengal, and then front-page news nationally.
[70][71][72]
After a massive manhunt, Sudipto Sen,
Debjani Mukhopadhdhay, and Arvind Singh Chauhan were arrested in Sonmarg, Kashmir on 23 April 2013.
[73]
On the same day, SEBI stated that both chain marketing and forward contracts are forms of CIS, and officially asked Saradha Group to immediately desist from raising any further capital and return all deposits by three months.
[32][74]
Aftermath and reactions[edit source | editbeta] State government reaction[edit source | editbeta] West Bengal Government[edit source | editbeta] As a reaction to the unravelling of the enormity of the scam, on 22 April 2013 West Bengal government announced that a fourmember judicial inquiry commission headed byShyamal Kumar Sen, retired Chief justice of Allahabad High Court would probe the scam. Mamata Banerjee is also
reported to have commented "ja gechhey ta gechhey (whatever has gone has gone)".
[75]
On 24 April 2013, Mamata
Banerjee announced a controversial Rs 500-crore relief fund for the low income depositors of the Saradha Group, introducing a 10 per cent additional tax on tobacco products to raise the money and in jest asked smokers "to light up a little [76][77]
more" to quickly fill up the requisite fund., displeased anti-tobacco groups.
[78]
a comment that
The propriety of the fund
was later questioned by Governor of RBI.
[79]
The West Bengal
government also set up a Special Investigation Team (SIT), with officers drawn from WB CID and Kolkata Police, to expeditiously probe the criminal investigation. The State Government has decided to repeal an existing Bill ed by the Left Front Government in 2009, which have not [80][81]
received the nod of the President of India.
On 30 April
2013 the new Bill titled, The West Bengal Protection of Interest of Depositors in Financial Establishments Bill, 2013, has been ed in a two-day special session of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly, having provisions for retrospective effect, search and seizure, enhanced penalties, establishment of special courts, confiscation of property.
[82][83][84]
On 2 May
2013, after complaints from depositors, state government ordered police to conduct search and seizure at offices of two companies MPS Greenery Developers Ltd and Prayag Infotech Hi-Rise Ltd, both of whom were running uned collective investment schemes similar to Saradha [85][86]
group.
By 6 May 2013 police had also arrested directors
of two more similar ponzi companies ATM group Infrastructure Pvt Ltd
[88]
[87]
and Annex
on charges of defrauding depositors.
On 8 May 2013, Mamata Banerjee stated that West Bengal was actively considering setting up a government backed small savings fund to encourage small depositors to invest in it rather than in ponzi scams.
[89]
However doubts have been
raised if a cash starved state with high debt burden has the
financial acumen or political will to independently ister [90]
such a fund.
On 23 May 2013, Chief Minister, Mamata Bannerjee indicated the willingness of West Bengal Government to take over Saradha owned TV channels Tara News and Tara Muzic, which had earlier been sent under istration by Calcutta High Court.
[91]
Assam Government[edit source | editbeta] On 4 April 2013, the Assam Legislative Assembly unanimously ed the Assam Protection of Interests of Depositors (in Financial Establishments) (Amendment) Bill, 2013 to enhance the protections available to depositors and curb fraudulent financial schemes.
[92]
Soon after the Saradha scam, Assam
Government sent the bill to Governor for his approval so that the bill may be forwarded to President of India for his assent.
[93]
On 22 April 2013 Assam Police sealed five offices of
Saradha Group amid protests by depositors, agents and employees and accusations that a minister, a former DGP and government officials had facilitated the group's business ventures in the state of Assam.
[94]
Unlike in West Bengal
where the probe is based on FIRs filed by defrauded depositors, the Assam Government suo motto ed 222 cases against 128 companies including Saradha Group, Rose Valley, Unipay 2U, Jeevan Suraksha, Prayag, Abyss Assam Group Co, Basil International Ltd., Alliance Vision Marketing Pvt. Ltd and Daffodils Group of Companies after widespread protests rocked Assam. In 17 cases, charge sheets have been filed against 42 persons belonging to 15 companies while altogether 303 persons have been arrested for swindling public money. The government had also seized nearly Rs 9.4 million in cash from the arrested and 106 bank s with total deposit of Rs 240 million have been frozen while a number of plots totalling more than 99 bighas, besides buildings, have been identified and necessary steps are being
taken for their attachment.
[93]
On 6 May 2013 Assam handed
over the investigation of the scam to CBI.
[95]
Odisha Government[edit source | editbeta] On the basis of complaints filed by over 6000 depositors (mainly from districts ading Bengal), the Economic Offence Wing (EOW) of the Crime Branch of Odisha Police ed criminal cases against Sudipto Sen and Saradha Group; on 3 May 2013 Odisha police had seized documents and sealed the local offices of Saradha group.
[96][97][98]
Sikkim Government[edit source | editbeta] On 4 May 2013, based on complaints filed by depositors/investors under Sikkim Protection of Interests of Depositors Act, Sikkim Police conducted raids on Gangtok office of Kolkata head-quartered Rose Valley Group, which was also running uned collective investment schemes similar to Saradha group.
[99][100]
Tripura Government[edit source | editbeta] On 9 May 2013, the Government of Tripura handed over all the cases involving deposit-collecting companies in the state [95]
to CBI.
Central government reaction[edit source | editbeta] In March 2013, Union corporate affairs minister Sachin Pilot said in the Lok Sabha that his ministry has received complaints against West Bengal's Chakra Infrastructure, icore E-Service, MPS Group, Prayag Group, Rose Valley Group, Tower Infotech, Vibgyor Group, URO Group, Saradha Group and many others for their involvement in Ponzi or multi-layermarketing schemes.
[15]
However no action was taken, it was
only after the unravelling of the scam that a host of measures were announced. On 25 April 2013,Income Tax department and Ministry of Corporate Affairs started separate investigation into Saradha Scam and the other similar ponzi
funds masquerading as NBFCs or CIS.
[101]
On the same day
the Enforcement Directorate (ED) ed a money laundering case, under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), at its Guwahati office as the Assam police has ed an FIR against the Saradha group to probe the allegations of financial irregularities by numerous depositors against it.
[102]
On 1 May 2013,
commenting on the regulatory loopholes, the Chairman of SEBI remarked that 'there should be one single regulator for entire collective investment schemes.'
[103]
On 7 May 2013, the Union Government set up an interministerial group with from corporate affairs ministry, SEBI, Reserve Bank of India and officers from the departmental of financial services. The group is supposed to unify the regulations of investment schemes by NBFCs, banks and companies, which at present are governed by different laws and regulations leading to regulatory loopholes etc.
[104]
In light of the scam, SEBI requested sweeping powers to investigate and prosecute any fraudulent collective investment schemes.
[105]
In August 2013, Central Government amended
the SEBI Act and gave SEBI powers to search and seize without prior magisterial permission to crack down on illegal money collection schemes.
[106][107]
Political reactions and protests[edit source | editbeta] There have been ongoing street protests around West Bengal, sometimes it has resulted in ransacking of offices of various ponzi funds.
[108]
The crash of the ponzi scheme and the
publication of the letter written by Sudipto Sen led to a barrage of cross party accusations, M accused TMC of hobnobbing with the 'chit fund', TMC on the other hand alleged that Union Minister of Finance's wife Nalini Chidambaram had taken lawyers fee from Saradha Group to incorporate its companies and should be investigated,
[109]
TMC also blamed M for
[110]
letting ponzi funds grow in Bengal.
M demanded that the
investigation should be done by CBI as many TMC leaders are involved in the scam thus an independent probe by state agencies is impossible. As per news media at least fifteen agents/depositors
[111][108][112][113][114][115][116][117][118]
and six
executives/directors of various money pooling companies have committed suicide in the aftermath of the scandal.
[119][120][121]
Judicial reactions[edit source | editbeta] On 22 April 2013, Public Interest Litigation (PIL) was filed in Guwahati High Court, by RTI activist Akhil Gogoi against Saradha and other such chit funds and in Calcutta High Court by advocate Basabi Roy Chowdhury seeking CBI investigation against the Saradha Group and other chit-fund companies.
[122]
On 25 April, responding to the PIL, a division
bench of Calcutta High Court comprising Chief Justice Arun Kumar Mishra and Justice Joymalya Bagchi said that since the ramifications of the scam included other states, a central agency would, perhaps, do justice to the investigation. However it gave state government one week to submit its investigation report to see if the probe is conducted in a fair manner.
[123]
On 7 May 2013, Calcutta High Court appointed a three member group to run Tara News and Tara [124]
Muzic.
Macroeconomic and microeconomic effects[edit source | editbeta]
Graph shows the fall of savings in government schemes with the rise of ponzi funds (figures on y axis are in Crores INR)
Companies illegally mobilising deposits diverted considerable funds (estimated to be around INR 240 billion in the last three years) from small savings funds promoted by state government. Official data show a steady slide in small-savings deposits and a spurt in withdrawals, which left a thin slice for the state government to borrow from to make ends meet. This had ripple effect on the overall macroeconomic situation of the state, as because instead of being used by government for public purpose the money went into ponzi schemes which either were siphoned off to foreign locations or were put to use for private gains.
[125]
On microeconomic front it is feared that legitimate Nonbanking financial companies and micro finance institutions would be stigmatised and would lead to a vicious cycle of low depositor trust, higher interest rates, lower lending and a localised credit crunch.
[126]
Furthermore as the majority of the
depositors in Saradha group came from the lowest economic strata, the loss of the investment would result in a further decrease in social mobility.
[127]
On the positive side, the scam
has drawn attention on similar illegal deposit mobilising companies which are facing increasing regulatory heat.
[128][129]
Many such companies which have been following
variations of time share travel schemes on which there are little clear regulations
[130]
are trying to as cooperative
societies to continue their financial operations.
[131]
Criminal prosecution and ongoing investigations[edit source | editbeta] FIR has been filed against Sudipto Sen and Kunal [132]
Ghosh.
Around 6 officials from Saradha Group have been
arrested. Numerous others from various illegal ponzi funds have also been arrested in several districts of West Bengal.
[133]
The investigation is being headed by detective
department of Bidhannagar police. The general ambit of investigation has also widened to include other ponzi funds which has scripted rags to riches stories for their promoters.
[134]
Kunal Ghosh along with other ponzi fund
officials from Saradha are being questioned by police to determine the true assets of the company and other facets of [135]
the fraud.
On 30 April 2013, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) started investigation into the scam in Assam at the request of the state government.
[136][137]
It has been indicated byChief Minister of
Tripura that Tripura may also order CBI probe into Saradha chit fund scam.
[138]
The Government of Odisha ordered the
Crime Branch of Odisha Police to start investigation on the Saradha scam.
[139]
Justice Shyamal Sen Commission[edit source | editbeta] By mid-August 2013, Justice Sen Commission finished its initial compilation of the list of claimants. Around 1.74 million depositors filed claims with the Commission. Out of which 83 per cent invested Rs 10,000 or less.
[140]
The Commission
recommended the state government to sell the assets of the company and proportionally distribute it among duped investors.
[141]
References[edit source | editbeta] 1.
^ "Chitti chitti bang bang". The Telegraph (Mumbai). 30 April 2013. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
2.
^ Agarwal, Abhyudaya; Satyaditya Singh Dhakare (5 June 2013). "What exactly happened in the Saradha Scam? Understanding chit fund, MLM, corporate deposits and collective investment schemes". Marketing and advertising law. Retrieved 13 June 2013.
3.
^ Kaul, Vivek (30 April 2013). "Here's why Saradha was not a chit fund but a Ponzi scheme". Firstpost. Retrieved 3 May 2013.
4.
^ PTI. "More Saradha entities under SEBI scanner". The Hindu. Retrieved 25 April 2013.
5.
^ Soudhriti Bhabani (23 January 2013). "Anger mounts over Saradha fund crisis as thousands of depositors face ruin". Daily Mail. Retrieved 25 April 2013.
6.
^ "Cheat funds, again". The Hindu. Retrieved 27 April 2013.
7.
^ Dutta, Romita (20 June 2013). "Saradha raised deposits from 1.7 mn people, probe finds". LiveMint. Retrieved 19 August 2013.
8.
^ "Mamata announces SIT, inquiry into Saradha". The Telegraph. Kolkota. 1 March 1999. Retrieved 25 April 2013.
9.
^ Mamata sets up fund for duped Saradha investors, Business Standard, 24 April 2013
10. ^ Dasgupta, Mithun (26 April 2013). "60 firms like Saradha Group operating in Bengal". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 29 April 2013. 11. ^ "Ponzi schemes show failure of formal banking". The Economic Times. 23 April 2013. Retrieved 29 April 2013. 12. ^ Chaki, Deborshi (28 April 2013). "Indian Ponzi scheme pushes many to penury". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 29 April 2013. 13. ^ Kaul, Vivek (3 May 2013). "Dear KC Chakrabarty, here's the real reason why people invest in Ponzi shemes". Firstpost. Retrieved 3 May 2013. 14. ^ "Mamata Banerjee vows to repay depositors of Saradha group's Sudipta Sen". The Indian Express. 26 April 2013. Retrieved 29 April 2013. 15. ^
a b
Ray, Atmadip (24 April 2013). "The fall of Saradha
group revives old ghosts of ponzi schemes going bust". The Economic Times. Retrieved 29 April 2013. 16. ^ "Once Again a Ponzi Lays Waste". Economic and Political Weekly. XLVIII (19). 11 May 2013.
17. ^ Sharma, Nagender; Gaurav Chaudhury (28 April 2013). "Is Bengal the Ponzi capital of India?". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 29 April 2013. 18. ^ "60 firms like Saradha operating in Bengal". Business Standard (Kolkata). Indo-Asian News Service. 25 April 2013. Retrieved 29 April 2013. 19. ^ Ray Choudhury, Ranabir (25 April 2013). "In the name of Maa Sarada". Hindu Businee Line. Retrieved 29 April 2013. 20. ^ Dutta, Ishita (29 April 2013). "Newsmaker: Sudipta Sen". Business Standard. Retrieved 29 April 2013. 21. ^
a b
Chowdhury, Subhanil (4 May 2013). "The Political
Economy of Shadow Finance in West Bengal". Economic and Political Weekly. XLVIII (18). 22. ^ Das, Madhuparna (28 April 2013). "In story of Saradha's crores, Bengal's forgotten hundreds". The Indian Express. Retrieved 29 April 2013. 23. ^ "PM says unauthorized deposit collection has to be curbed". The Times of India(New Delhi). 28 April 2013. Retrieved 29 April 2013. 24. ^ Pande, Vinay (26 April 2013). "Saradha chit fund scam: State government failed, but so has centre". The Economic Times. Retrieved 29 April 2013. 25. ^ Acharya, Namrata (26 April 2013). "In Bengal's grey 'money market', Saradha is just one". Business Standard. Retrieved 29 April 2013. 26. ^ Saha, Sambit; Pranseh Sarkar (23 April 2013). "Saradha with 120 arms and blessings". The Telegraph (Kolkota). Retrieved 29 April 2013. 27. ^ Konar, Debasis (29 April 2013). "Sebi's Saradha order came 3 years after probe started". The Times of India (Kolkata). Retrieved 29 April 2013. 28. ^ Pandey, Alok (24 April 2013). "Motorcycle factory, cited in chit-fund letter bomb, that ran on deceit". Kolkata: NDTV. Retrieved 29 April 2013.
29. ^ Basak, Probal (27 April 2013). "After Saradha, next target should be Rose Valley: Sushil Modi". Business Standard (Kolkata). Retrieved 29 April 2013. 30. ^ "Saradha scam: Several inquiries are going on, WB governor says". The Times of India (Kolkata). 26 April 2013. 31. ^ "Disassociate Saradha from chit fund sector, says chit fund association". New Delhi: Yahoo Finance India. 29 April 2013. Retrieved 29 April 2013. 32. ^
a b c
"SEBI Order (WTM/RKA/ERO-CIS/19/2013)".
Mumbai: SEBI. 23 April 2013. Retrieved 29 April 2013. 33. ^ Khanna, Rohit (30 April 2013). "How Sudipta Sen's strategy stumped Sebi". The Times of India. Retrieved 30 April 2013. 34. ^ "Saradha group ch(ea)t fund: A money trail of fraud". FirstPost. Retrieved 29 April 2013. 35. ^ Acharya, Anindita (27 April 2013). "Bengal's film industry dances to ponzi fund tune". Hindustan Times (Kolkata). Retrieved 29 April 2013. 36. ^
a b
Roy, Sandip (22 April 2013). "How Trinamool burnt its
fingers in the Saradha chit fund scam". Firstpost (Kolkata). Retrieved 29 April 2013. 37. ^ "Prabhat Varta". Retrieved 10 May 2013. 38. ^ "Partnership purely editorial: Srinjoy". The Times of India. 25 April 2013. Retrieved 10 May 2013. 39. ^ Zaved, Jeshan (4 May 2013). "Two newspapers stay afloat". The Telegraph(Kolkata). Retrieved 4 May 2013. 40. ^ Mitra, Dola (6 May 2013). "Then Came The Showstopper". Outlook India. Retrieved 29 April 2013. 41. ^ Ghosal, Shakuntala; Tamal Sengupta & Anuradha Himatsingka (29 April 2013)."Mamata Banerjee making all efforts to save Saradha Group's media companies".The Economic Times (Kolkata). Retrieved 10 May 2013. 42. ^ Bhattacharya, Snigdhendu (23 April 2013). "Saradha chief used fake mobike plant to dupe investors". Hindustan Times (Kolkata). Retrieved 29 April 2013.
43. ^ "Sen's 'bluff', in a nutshell". The Telegraph (Kolkota). 8 May 2013. Retrieved 9 May 2013. 44. ^ Basak, Sanjay (28 April 2013). "Chit fund scam: Mamata Banerjee donated Saradha sops, faces backlash". Deccan Chronicle. Retrieved 29 April 2013. 45. ^ Benerjee, Moideepa (29 April 2013). "Chit fund scam: Saradha shadow over football field". Kolkata: NDTV. Retrieved 29 April 2013. 46. ^ Islam, Aminul. "Cutbacks in the offing". LiveMint. Retrieved 13 June 2013. 47. ^ Bhattacharya, Ravik (25 April 2013). "Scam hurts Trinamool image, Mamata faces dissent". Hindustan Times (Kolkata). Retrieved 29 April 2013. 48. ^ Basu, Riju (29 April 2013). "Who would fund puja celebrations after Sudipto?".Anandabazar Patrika (in Bengali) (Kolkata). Retrieved 29 April 2013. 49. ^ "Who are the two TMC MPs Srinjoy Bose and Kunal Ghosh?". First Post. 24 April 2013. Retrieved 29 April 2013. 50. ^ "Trinamool cannot wish away its links with Saradha group irrespective of what Mamata says". The Economic Times. Kolkata. 25 April 2013. Retrieved 29 April 2013. 51. ^ Acharya, Namrata (28 April 2013). "Banking on lies". Business Standard(Kolkata). Retrieved 9 May 2013. 52. ^ "His M master's confidential assistants". The Telegraph (Kolkota). 7 May 2013. Retrieved 9 May 2013. 53. ^ "Saradha chitfund: Sudipta Sen sent to 14-day police remand- TIMESNOW.tv – Latest Breaking News, Big News Stories, News Videos". Timesnow.Tv. Retrieved 26 April 2013. 54. ^ "Assam for CBI probe into Saradha scam". Indiablooms.com. 1 January 2004. Retrieved 26 April 2013. 55. ^ Malik, Ashok (27 April 2013). "Sen and Saradha: Story of political intrigue". Daily Pioneer. Retrieved 29 April 2013. 56. ^ "United departure, separated arrival". The Telegraph. 25 April 2013. Retrieved 29 April 2013.
57. ^
a b
Bannerjee, Monideepa (23 April 2013). "Sudipta Sen:
The man with 'three wives and five houses'". NDTV. Retrieved 29 April 2013. 58. ^ Dutta, Sushmita (27 April 2013). "'Cheat' fund: The inside story of Sudipto Sen & Saradha group". Zee News. Retrieved 29 April 2013. 59. ^ "Excel sheet shows Debjani clout: Cops". The Telegraph (Kolkota). 26 April 2013. Retrieved 29 April 2013. 60. ^ Ghosh, Shamik (23 April 2013). "Chit fund scam: Saradha group chairman Sudipta Sen arrested from Kashmir". NDTV. Retrieved 29 April 2013. 61. ^ Gupta, Priyanka (27 April 2013). "How a Saradha receptionist became executive director in just 3 years". CNN-IBN. Retrieved 29 April 2013. 62. ^ "West Bengal chit fund scam: Knives out for tainted Trinamool MPs". The Times of India (Kolkata). 24 April 2013. Retrieved 29 April 2013. 63. ^ Roy Chowdhury, Sumanta (23 April 2013). "Mamata govt feels the heat after the Ponzi scheme meltdown". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 29 April 2013. 64. ^
a b
Bandopadhay, Krishnendu. "Saradha chit fund mess:
Quick-rich dreams lie crushed". The Times of India (23 April 2013). Retrieved 29 April 2013. 65. ^
a b
"Sudipta Sen Saradha's letter to CBI". JolChobi Social
News. Retrieved 25 April 2013. 66. ^ "Politicos in dock over Saradha scam". Deccan Herald. 24 April 2013. Retrieved 29 April 2013. 67. ^ "Times Now Exclusive: Sudipto Sen's letter to CBI on 6th April". Times Now. 24 April 2013. Retrieved 29 April 2013. 68. ^ Saha, Sambit (21 April 2013). "Bengal's Bonzi shell cracks up Panic strikes other schemes". The Telegraph. Retrieved 29 April 2013. 69. ^ "Share on email Share on print Share on facebook Share on twitter More Sharing Services Mamata clears arrest to
nip chit contagion". The Telegraph. 19 April 2013. Retrieved 29 April 2013. 70. ^ Maglich, Jordan (25 April 2013). "Massive $3.6 Billion Ponzi Scheme Uncovered in India". Ponzitracker. Retrieved 5 May 2013. 71. ^ "Sanchayita haunts Saradha victims". The Times of India. 21 April 2013. Retrieved 6 May 2013. 72. ^ "Soon, PIL in HC seeking ban on chit fund operators". The Indian Express. 20 April 2013. Retrieved 6 May 2013. 73. ^ "Saradha Group chairman Sudipto Sen arrested in Jammu and Kashmir". The Indian Express (Kolkata: PTI). 24 April 2013. Retrieved 6 May 2013. 74. ^ "'Boxed in', Sebi too late – Saradha given three months to refund investors". The Telegraph (Mumbai). 24 April 2013. Retrieved 29 April 2013. 75. ^ "What the govt balance sheet shows The words and deeds". The Telegraph. 22 April 2013. Retrieved 29 April 2013. 76. ^ "DIDI'S SIN TAX Rs 500cr plan to refund poor victims". The Telegraph (Kolkota). 24 April 2013. Retrieved 29 April 2013. 77. ^ "Editorial". The Telegraph. 26 April 2013. Retrieved 29 April 2013. 78. ^ "Anti-tobacco group raises hackles over Mamata's smoke joke". Yahoo News India. 25 April 2013. Retrieved 29 April 2013. 79. ^ "Is Sardha tax fair RBI Chief asks". The Telegraph. 8 May 2013. Retrieved 9 May 2013. 80. ^ "Confusion over new chit-fund bill". The Times of India. 30 April 2013. Retrieved 30 April 2013. 81. ^ "New bill on chit funds by Bengal govt sparks off debate". Business Standard. 28 April 2013. Retrieved 30 April 2013.
82. ^ "West Bengal es new Bill to protect investor interests". Business Line. 30 April 2013. Retrieved 30 April 2013. 83. ^ "West Bengal to bring new bill on protecting investor interest". The Hindu. 29 April 2013. Retrieved 30 April 2013. 84. ^ "New Bill For Investor Protection To Have More Teeth". Business World. 29 April 2013. Retrieved 30 April 2013. 85. ^ "WB govt shuts down MPS office in Kolkata; Another chit fund scam in the making?". First Post. 5 May 2013. Retrieved 6 May 2013. 86. ^ "Where there is a will, not bill, there is a way – Cops seal two firms' offices". The Telegraph. 2 May 2013. Retrieved 6 May 2013. 87. ^ "Director held". The Telegraph (Midnapore). 6 May 2013. Retrieved 6 May 2013. 88. ^ "Bengal-based chit fund owner arrested". Barasat: Zee News. 25 April 2013. Retrieved 6 May 2013. 89. ^ "Mamata Banerjee moots social security scheme after Saradha chit fund scam".India Today (Kolkata). 8 May 2013. Retrieved 9 May 2013. 90. ^ "Here comes trusted Didi deposit scheme". The Telegraph (Kolkata). 8 May 2013. Retrieved 9 May 2013. 91. ^ "Bengal to take over 2 TV channels of Saradha Group, but not liabilities". The Telegraph (Kolkata). 23 May 2013. Retrieved 23 May 2013. 92. ^ "Assembly es Assam Protection of Interests of Depositors (in Financial Establishments) Amendment Bill". Guwahati. 4 April 2013. Retrieved 6 May 2013. 93. ^
a b
"Assam Bill awaits Guv nod to nip Saradha-like scams
in bud". Dailly Pioneer(Guwahati). 6 May 2013. Retrieved 6 May 2013. 94. ^ "Company Offices Sealed in Assam". The Telegraph (Guwahati/Bongaigaon). 23 April 2013. Retrieved 29 April 2013.
95. ^
a b
"Tripura at CBI's door over deposits". The
Telegraph (Agartala). 9 May 2013. Retrieved 9 May 2013. 96. ^ "Odisha Police s second case against Saradha Group". Bhuvaneshwar: Zee News. 7 May 2013. Retrieved 6 May 2013. 97. ^ "Odisha Police s second case against Saradha Group". DNA India(Bhuvneshwar). 6 May 2013. Retrieved 6 May 2013. 98. ^ "Chit fund Saradha's office closed in the state". Odisha Reporter. 5 May 2013. Retrieved 6 May 2013. 99. ^ "Rose Valley office raided in Sikkim". The Indian Express (Guwahati). 5 May 2013. Retrieved 6 May 2013. 100. ^ "Chit fund Rose Valley office raided in Sikkim". Hindustan Times (Guwahati). 5 May 2013. Retrieved 6 May 2013. 101. ^ "Corporate Affairs Ministry to probe Saradha group". The Telegraph. 25 April 2013. Retrieved 29 April 2013. 102. ^ "Saradha chit fund scam: ED s money laundering case". The Economic Times (New Delhi). 25 April 2013. Retrieved 29 April 2013. 103. ^ "Working hard to save investors from Ponzi schemes: SEBI". The Hindu (New Delhi). 1 May 2013. Retrieved 1 May 2013. 104. ^ Bannerjee, Ronojoy (7 May 2013). "Saradha scam: Probe set up to fix loopholes in laws". CNBC-TV18. Retrieved 9 May 2013. 105. ^ Lashkar, Anirudh; Vyas Mohan (22 May 2013). "Sebi seeks sweeping powers".Live Mint (Mumbai). Retrieved 22 May 2013. 106. ^ Modak, Samie (19 August 2013). "Sebi working on norms to incorporate new powers". Business Standard. Retrieved 19 August 2013. 107. ^ "Sebi enacts stricter laws on CIS, front running". Business Standard. 12 August 2013. Retrieved 19 August 2013.
108. ^
a b
Mishra, Digbijay (21 April 2013). "Investors ransack
Saradha's Bengal offices, knock at CM's door". Kolkata. Retrieved 29 April 2013. 109. ^ PTI. "Chit fund: TMC questions role of Chidambaram's wife in Saradha group". The Times of India. Retrieved 26 April 2013. 110. ^ "Many claims in letter – Sudipta Sen's missive to CBI". The Telegraph. 25 April 2013. Retrieved 29 April 2013. 111. ^ "Agent Suicide". The Telegraph (Kolkota). 18 June 2013. Retrieved 19 June 2013. 112. ^ Sharma, Bijoy (1 June 2013). "Saradha agent kills self". The Telegraph (Dhubri). Retrieved 2 June 2013. 113. ^ "Agent wife dead". The Telegraph (Tamluk). 27 May 2013. Retrieved 28 May 2013. 114. ^ "Agent dead". The Telegraph (Bengal). 26 May 2013. Retrieved 26 May 2013. 115. ^ "Employee hangs self". The Telegraph (Kolkota). 22 May 2013. Retrieved 23 May 2013. 116. ^ "Saradha scam: Stream of suicides continues, another agent hangs self". India Today (Kolkata). 16 May 2013. Retrieved 17 May 2013. 117. ^ "Saradha scam: 2 more commit suicide, toll mounts to 10". Business Line(Kolkata). 6 May 2013. Retrieved 9 May 2013. 118. ^ "Terrifying consequence rears head Suicide after savings blow". The Telegrpah(Baruipur). 21 April 2013. Retrieved 29 April 2013. 119. ^ "Meltdown of company triggers suicides in India". Asia News Network. 8 May 2013. Retrieved 9 May 2013. 120. ^ "Deposit company owner hangs self". The Telegraph (Kolkota). 3 May 2013. Retrieved 9 May 2013. 121. ^ "Default assault on firm boss". The Telegraph (Durgapur). 16 May 2013. Retrieved 17 May 2013.
122. ^ "Road blockades across Bengal; two PILs filed". Business Line (Kolkata). 22 April 2013. Retrieved 29 April 2013. 123. ^ "Saradha money scam: Calcutta High Court and Central govt stepping in". Kerala Next. 29 April 2013. Retrieved 29 April 2013. 124. ^ " lifeline for two TV channels owned by Saradha". The Indian Express. 7 May 2013. Retrieved 9 May 2013. 125. ^ Sarkar, Pranesh (25 pPril 2013). "Snore & drown savings bell ... Zzzzzzzzzzzz ...". The Telegraph (Kolkata). Retrieved 29 April 2013. 126. ^ "Saradha Group has nothing to do with Chit Fund business: CFAI". New Delhi: Zee News. 29 April 2013. Retrieved 29 April 2013. 127. ^ Chowdhury, Charandas (6 May 2013). "Indian Ponzi Scheme Gets a Political Bailout". Bloomberg. Retrieved 9 May 2013. 128. ^ Basu, Manish (6 May 2013). "ICore E-Services on the verge of collapse". Livemint. Retrieved 9 May 2013. 129. ^ Pandey, Alok (27 April 2013). "After Saradha Group's collapse, focus on rural Bengal's 'get rich' schemes". Singur: NDTV. Retrieved 9 May 2013. 130. ^ Ghosh, Pinak (20 May 2013). "Sebi and Rose hurl thorns in ad valley". The Telegraph (Kolkota). Retrieved 21 May 2013. 131. ^ Basu, Manish (20 May 2013). "Saradha fallout: Bengal firms eye cooperative society status". LiveMint (Kolkata). Retrieved 21 May 2013. 132. ^ "Our proximity was our power". The Telegraph. 27 April 2013. Retrieved 29 April 2013. 133. ^ "Ponzi fire spreads to other firms". Hindustan Times (Berhampore). 28 April 2013. Retrieved 29 April 2013. 134. ^ Ray, Atmadip; Anuradha Himatsingka & Sutanuka Ghosal (29 April 2013). "Saradha chit fund scam: The top five
among Bengal's flourishing financial grey market". The Economic Times. Retrieved 29 April 2013. 135. ^ "Signal in Kunal quiz". The Telegraph. 30 April 2013. Retrieved 29 April 2013. 136. ^ "CBI starts investigation in Assam". Bartaman (in Bengali) (Kolkata). 30 April 2013. 137. ^ "Chit fund scam: CBI team to meet Assam Police in Guwahati". Guwahati: ANI. 30 April 2013. 138. ^ "Tripura may order CBI probe into Saradha chit fund scam". India Today (Agartala). 30 April 2013. Retrieved 30 April 2013. 139. ^ "State feels Saradha aftershocks". The Telegraph. 30 April 2013. Retrieved 30 April 2013. 140. ^ Basu, Kinshuk; Pranesh Sarkar (19 August 2013). "Saradha vow faces tricky sums". The Telegraph (Kolkata). Retrieved 19 August 2013. 141. ^ Basak, Probal; Namrata Acharya (5 August 2013). "Sen to recommend selling of Saradha assets". Business Standard (Kolkata). Retrieved 19 August 2013.
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Saradha Group financial scandal From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Former type
Privately owned
Industry
Financial services, infrastructure management, automobiles, manufacturing
Genre
Deposit mobilising company
Fate
Allegations that this consortium of companies is a Ponzi scheme
Founder(s)
Sudipto Sen
Defunct
April 2013
Headquarters Kolkata, West Bengal, India
Key people
Sudipto Sen, Chairman & MD Debjani Mukherjee, Director
Kunal Ghosh, CEO, Media Div.
Employees
5000+
Divisions
Saradha Realty Saradha Exports Global automobileso Saradha media group
saradhagroup.com
Website
The Saradha Group financial scandal is a financial scam which was caused by the collapse of a Ponzi scheme run by Saradha Group, a consortium of Indian companies which was believed to be running a wide variety of collective investment schemes (popularly but incorrectly referred to as chit fund)
[1][2][3]
[4]
in Eastern India.
300 billion (US$4–6 billion)
The group collapsed in April 2013, causing an estimated loss of INR 200–
[5][6]
to over 1.7 million depositors.
[7]
In the aftermath of the financial scandal,
the State government of West Bengal set up an inquiry commission to investigate the collapse
[8]
and also
set up a fund of INR 5 billion (92 million USD) to ensure that low income investors are not [9]
bankrupted.
The Union Governmentalso launched a multi-agency probe to investigate the Saradha
scam, as well as other similar Ponzi schemes.
[10]
Contents [hide]
1 Background
2 Modus operandi of Saradha
o
2.1 Financial operations
o
2.2 Building brand and non-financial businesses
o
2.3 Political patronage
o
2.4 Key people
3 Collapse and unravelling of the scam
4 Aftermath and reactions
o
4.1 State government reaction
4.1.1 West Bengal Government
4.1.2 Assam Government
4.1.3 Odisha Government
4.1.4 Sikkim Government
4.1.5 Tripura Government
o
4.2 Central government reaction
o
4.3 Political reactions and protests
o
4.4 Judicial reactions
o
4.5 Macroeconomic and microeconomic effects
5 Criminal prosecution and ongoing investigations
o
5.1 Justice Shyamal Sen Commission
6 References
Background[edit source | editbeta] See also: Banking in India India has a very large low-income rural population with low access to formal banking facilities.
[11]
A web of
parallel informal banking arose to fill the vacuum. At its centre weremoneylenders, who used to charge exorbitant rates of interest, this practice was greatly curbed by several Moneylenders Acts enacted by state governments in the 1950s. However, the fundamental failure to replace the role of moneylenders gave rise to fly-by-night financial operators who ran Ponzi schemes in various disguises.
[12]
However
some commentators place the blame for these kinds of Ponzi schemes on greed rather than exclusion from formal banking systems.
[13]
The relatively prosperous rural economy of West Bengal had previously relied on small savings schemes run by Indian Postal Service. However, low rates of interest in the 1980s and 90s encouraged the rise of several Ponzi schemes in speculative ventures such as Sanchayita Investments, Overland Investment Company, Verona Credit and Commercial Investment Company. Together, these scams eliminated close to 10 billion INR in investor wealth.
[14][15]
In spite of this history of Ponzi schemes, the continuing decline in interest rates, rapid financialisation of household savings, lack of financial literacy and investor awareness, political patronage, absence of adequate legal deterrence, and regulatory arbitrage encouraged the growth of similar companies.
[16]
These companies either raised their funds through legitimate channels such as collective
investment schemes, non-convertible debentures and preference shares; or illegitimately through hoax financial instruments such as teak bonds or potato bonds or fictitious ventures in agro-export, construction, manufacturing etc. Complaints have been filed against more than 8 out of every 10 multilevel marketing and finance schemes in West Bengal, giving the state the sordid title of 'Ponzi capital of
[17]
India'.
It is estimated that these ponzi funds have all-together amassed around INR 10 trillion (short
scale) (200 billion USD) from unsuspecting depositors in Eastern India.
[18]
Modus operandi of Saradha[edit source | editbeta] Financial operations[edit source | editbeta] The companies which made up Saradha Group were incorporated in 2006. Its name is a cacography of Sarada Devi, a highly revered spiritual icon of the region and the wife and spiritual [19]
counterpart of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, a nineteenth-century mystic of Bengal. gave Saradha Group a veneer of respectability.
This association
[20]
Like all Ponzi schemes, Saradha Group promised astronomical returns in fanciful but credible investments.
[21]
Its funds were sold on commission by agents who were recruited from local rural
communities. As much as 25–40% of the deposit was returned to these agents as commissions and [22]
lucrative gifts to quickly build up a wide agent pyramid.
To keep ahead of regulators, the group used a
[23]
nexus of companies to launder money.
Initially, the front-line companies collected money from the public by issuing secured [24]
debentures and redeemable preferential bonds.
However, under Indian Securities regulations and
section 67 of the Indian Companies Act, a company cannot raise capital from more than 50 people without issuing a proper prospectus and balance sheet. Its s must be audited. It must also have [25]
explicit permission from the market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).
SEBI first challenged Saradha Group in 2009. Saradha Group responded by opening as many as 300 new companies to create more cross-holdings. This created an extremely complex tiered corporate structure which made it difficult to pin blame on any one company. However, SEBI persisted in its investigation through 2010.
[27]
[26]
In response, Saradha Group changed its
methods of raising capital. In West Bengal, Jharkhand, Assam andChattisgarh, it now ran variations of collective investment schemes (CIS), such as tourism packages, forward travel and hotel booking timeshare credit transfer, real estate, infrastructure finance, and motorcycle manufacturing
[28][29]
The investors were rarely informed about the true nature of the investments. Instead,
many investors were told only that they would get high returns after a fixed period.
[30]
To other investors,
the investment was fraudulently sold as a form of 'chit fund'. Under the Chit Fund Act (1982), chit funds are regulated by state governments rather than SEBI.
[31]
After SEBI warned the state government of West Bengal about Saradha Group's apparent chit fund activities in 2011,
[32]
Saradha Group changed its methods again. This time, it acquired and sold large
numbers of shares of various listed companies, siphoning off the proceeds of the sale to s which have not yet been identified.
[33]
By 2012, SEBI was able to identify the group's activities as CIS, not chit fund, and demanded that it immediately stop operating its investment schemes until it received proper permission from [32]
SEBI.
However, Saradha Group ignored SEBI, and continued to operate in the same manner until it
collapsed in April 2013.
[34]
Building brand and non-financial businesses[edit source | editbeta] Like previous Ponzi schemes, Saradha Group invested strongly in building its brand. With enormous funds at its disposal, Saradha invested in high visibility sectors, such as the Bengali film [35]
industry,
where it recruited famous actress and Trinamool Congress (TMC) Member of
parliament Satabdi Roy as its brand ambassador.
[36]
Saradha Group also recruited Kunal Ghosh, another Trinamool Congress Member of parliament, to act as the CEO of the media group.
[36]
Under Kunal Ghosh, the group went on an unprecedented spree of
buying and establishing local television channels and newspapers. By 2013 it employed over 1500 journalists and owned eight newspapers in five languages: Bengal Post, Seven Sisters Post (English dailies), Kalom (Bengali daily), Prabhat Varta (Hindi daily), Baturi (Assamese daily),
[38]
[39]
Sakalbela, Azad Hind
[37]
Ajir Dainik
and Parama (Bengali dailies). It also owned two
Bengali news channels (Tara Newz and Channel 10), two Bengali general entertainment channels (Tara Muzic andTara Bangla)
[40]
and one FM radio station.
[41]
In 2011, Saradha Group bought Global Automobiles, a heavily indebted motorcycle company, to front the latest version of its Ponzi scheme. Even though the company immediately stopped most production, it kept 150 workers on payroll who "pretended to work whenever truckloads and busloads of prospective depositors of Saradha Realty visited the plant for a first-hand check before investing."
[42]
It also bought
similar shell companies like West Bengal Awadhoot Agro Private Ltd in North 24-Parganas and Landmark Cement in Bankura to showcase them to agents and depositors and convince them that the Saradha Group had diversified interests.
[43]
As part of its corporate social responsibility program, Saradha Group donated motorcycles to the Kolkata Police. On 19 July 2011, it persuaded Mamata Banerjee, the Chief Minister of West Bengal to launch its [44]
ambulances and motorcycles for the Jangalmahal area of West Midnapore.
To further etch itself in the socio-cultural milieu of Bengal, Saradha Group invested in football rivals and the best known football clubs in Bengal: Mohun Bagan A.C. (INR 18 million in 2010–11) and East Bengal F.C. (INR 35 million since 2010).
[45][46]
The group also generously sponsored various Durga
Puja celebrations organised by local political leaders.
Political patronage[edit source | editbeta]
[47][48]
Several political leaders received financial from Saradha Group, including several Trinamool Congress of Parliament. Trinamool Congress is the incumbent ruling party of West Bengal.
[21]
Member of Parliament Kunal Ghosh drew a salary of INR 1.6 million per month from Saradha Group. Member of Parliament Srinjoy Bose, son of Swapan Sadhan Bose, was directly involved with the media operations of Saradha Group.
[49]
Transport Minister Madan Mitra headed the employees' union of
Saradha Group, and publicly encouraged people to invest their savings with the company.
[50]
Sudipto Sen
reportedly spent Rs 18.6 million to buy paintings done by Mamata Banerjee, whose government later issued a notification that public libraries should buy and display newspapers of Saradha group.
[51]
The
group also had financial dealings with Ganesh Dey, the confidential assistant of the finance minister of [52]
the earstwhile Left Front government.
Politicians also benefited from Saradha Group outside West Bengal. The Health and Education Minister of Assam, Himanta Biswa Sarma, may have profited personally from the Ponzi scheme.
[53][54]
It is possible
that this Ponzi scheme only survived for so many years because of its heavy political patronage.
[55]
Key people[edit source | editbeta]
Sudipto Sen is the chairman and managing director of the Saradha Group. He was arrested in Kashmir on 23 April 2013, after having been on the run for over a week.
[56]
Sen is described as a soft-spoken, charming, yet forceful orator. He is in his mid-50s. In his youth, he had a different name, Shankaraditya Sen, and was part of the Naxalite movement in West Bengal. He changed his name to Sudipto Sen and may have had plastic surgery sometime in the 1990s,
[57]
after which he became
associated with land development projects in South Kolkata. The land bank he formed at the turn of the century became the initial vehicle for enticing early customers into his ponzi scheme.
[58]
Sen may be the son of Bhudeb Sen, who used to run a chit fund called Sanchayani in the 1980s. It went broke in 2003.
[57]
Debjani Mukhopadhdhay is one of the executive directors of Saradha Group who had the power to sign cheques on behalf of the group.
[59]
She was arrested together with Sudipto
[60]
Sen.
Debjani is in her early 30s. Her early training was as an air hostess. Although she originally ed Saradha Group in 2010 as a
receptionist, she rose rapidly to be the 'number two' in the group hierarchy.
[61]
She was well known locally for her generosity to her
community.
Collapse and unravelling of the scam[edit source | editbeta] The earliest public warnings about the reckless and fradulent CIS in West Bengal started in 2009, from of parliament Somendra Nath Mitra and Abu Hasem Khan Choudhury and West Bengal Consumer Affairs [62]
Minister Sadhan Pande.
However, apart from the SEBI
investigation, no executive actions were taken at this time. On 7 December 2012, RBI governor Duvvuri Subbarao stated that the West Bengal government should initiate suo motu action against companies which were indulging in financial malpractices.
[63]
By that time, the Saradha Group Ponzi
scheme was already beginning to unravel. In January 2013, the cash inflow of Saradha Group was less than its cash payouts for the first time. This outcome is inevitable in a Ponzi scheme which is allowed to run full course. Although Sudipta Sen tried to calm uneasy depositors and agents,
[64]
the tide had irrevocably turned.
In a letter dated 6 April 2013, Sudipto Sen wrote a 18-page [65]
confessional letter to Central Bureau of Investigation,
in
which he itted that he had paid large sums of money to several politicians.
[66]
He also stated that TMC leader Kunal
Ghosh had forced him to enter into money-losing media ventures and blackmailed him into selling one of his channels [65][67]
at below market price.
After posting this letter on 10 April,
Sen fled. In his absence, the Ponzi scheme unravelled into a full-blown crisis. On 17 April, approximately 600 collection agents claiming to be associated with Saradha Group assembled at
the headquarters of TMC and demanded government intervention. The mood of despondency quickly spread across Bengal. As described by a Times of India interviewee, "'The entire Dakshin Barasat today looks like it was hit by a cyclone. Every home has a bankrupt depositor or a fugitive agent. People who were friends have turned enemies. Happy households have become miserable. Students have stopped going to school. Traders have lost interest in opening shutters. There is a sense of treachery that has replaced the warmth of a neighbourhood. Suddenly everything has become vicious."
[64]
By this time, the Saradha Group financial scandal had colloquially become known as "Bonzi". This is a wordplay on the words Ponzi and Bengal.
[68]
On 18 April, an arrest warrant was issued for Sudipto [69]
Sen.
By 20 April, the news of potentially the largest Ponzi
scheme ever seen in India had become ongoing headline news in West Bengal, and then front-page news nationally.
[70][71][72]
After a massive manhunt, Sudipto Sen,
Debjani Mukhopadhdhay, and Arvind Singh Chauhan were arrested in Sonmarg, Kashmir on 23 April 2013.
[73]
On the same day, SEBI stated that both chain marketing and forward contracts are forms of CIS, and officially asked Saradha Group to immediately desist from raising any further capital and return all deposits by three months.
[32][74]
Aftermath and reactions[edit source | editbeta] State government reaction[edit source | editbeta] West Bengal Government[edit source | editbeta] As a reaction to the unravelling of the enormity of the scam, on 22 April 2013 West Bengal government announced that a fourmember judicial inquiry commission headed byShyamal Kumar Sen, retired Chief justice of Allahabad High Court would probe the scam. Mamata Banerjee is also
reported to have commented "ja gechhey ta gechhey (whatever has gone has gone)".
[75]
On 24 April 2013, Mamata
Banerjee announced a controversial Rs 500-crore relief fund for the low income depositors of the Saradha Group, introducing a 10 per cent additional tax on tobacco products to raise the money and in jest asked smokers "to light up a little [76][77]
more" to quickly fill up the requisite fund., displeased anti-tobacco groups.
[78]
a comment that
The propriety of the fund
was later questioned by Governor of RBI.
[79]
The West Bengal
government also set up a Special Investigation Team (SIT), with officers drawn from WB CID and Kolkata Police, to expeditiously probe the criminal investigation. The State Government has decided to repeal an existing Bill ed by the Left Front Government in 2009, which have not [80][81]
received the nod of the President of India.
On 30 April
2013 the new Bill titled, The West Bengal Protection of Interest of Depositors in Financial Establishments Bill, 2013, has been ed in a two-day special session of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly, having provisions for retrospective effect, search and seizure, enhanced penalties, establishment of special courts, confiscation of property.
[82][83][84]
On 2 May
2013, after complaints from depositors, state government ordered police to conduct search and seizure at offices of two companies MPS Greenery Developers Ltd and Prayag Infotech Hi-Rise Ltd, both of whom were running uned collective investment schemes similar to Saradha [85][86]
group.
By 6 May 2013 police had also arrested directors
of two more similar ponzi companies ATM group Infrastructure Pvt Ltd
[88]
[87]
and Annex
on charges of defrauding depositors.
On 8 May 2013, Mamata Banerjee stated that West Bengal was actively considering setting up a government backed small savings fund to encourage small depositors to invest in it rather than in ponzi scams.
[89]
However doubts have been
raised if a cash starved state with high debt burden has the
financial acumen or political will to independently ister [90]
such a fund.
On 23 May 2013, Chief Minister, Mamata Bannerjee indicated the willingness of West Bengal Government to take over Saradha owned TV channels Tara News and Tara Muzic, which had earlier been sent under istration by Calcutta High Court.
[91]
Assam Government[edit source | editbeta] On 4 April 2013, the Assam Legislative Assembly unanimously ed the Assam Protection of Interests of Depositors (in Financial Establishments) (Amendment) Bill, 2013 to enhance the protections available to depositors and curb fraudulent financial schemes.
[92]
Soon after the Saradha scam, Assam
Government sent the bill to Governor for his approval so that the bill may be forwarded to President of India for his assent.
[93]
On 22 April 2013 Assam Police sealed five offices of
Saradha Group amid protests by depositors, agents and employees and accusations that a minister, a former DGP and government officials had facilitated the group's business ventures in the state of Assam.
[94]
Unlike in West Bengal
where the probe is based on FIRs filed by defrauded depositors, the Assam Government suo motto ed 222 cases against 128 companies including Saradha Group, Rose Valley, Unipay 2U, Jeevan Suraksha, Prayag, Abyss Assam Group Co, Basil International Ltd., Alliance Vision Marketing Pvt. Ltd and Daffodils Group of Companies after widespread protests rocked Assam. In 17 cases, charge sheets have been filed against 42 persons belonging to 15 companies while altogether 303 persons have been arrested for swindling public money. The government had also seized nearly Rs 9.4 million in cash from the arrested and 106 bank s with total deposit of Rs 240 million have been frozen while a number of plots totalling more than 99 bighas, besides buildings, have been identified and necessary steps are being
taken for their attachment.
[93]
On 6 May 2013 Assam handed
over the investigation of the scam to CBI.
[95]
Odisha Government[edit source | editbeta] On the basis of complaints filed by over 6000 depositors (mainly from districts ading Bengal), the Economic Offence Wing (EOW) of the Crime Branch of Odisha Police ed criminal cases against Sudipto Sen and Saradha Group; on 3 May 2013 Odisha police had seized documents and sealed the local offices of Saradha group.
[96][97][98]
Sikkim Government[edit source | editbeta] On 4 May 2013, based on complaints filed by depositors/investors under Sikkim Protection of Interests of Depositors Act, Sikkim Police conducted raids on Gangtok office of Kolkata head-quartered Rose Valley Group, which was also running uned collective investment schemes similar to Saradha group.
[99][100]
Tripura Government[edit source | editbeta] On 9 May 2013, the Government of Tripura handed over all the cases involving deposit-collecting companies in the state [95]
to CBI.
Central government reaction[edit source | editbeta] In March 2013, Union corporate affairs minister Sachin Pilot said in the Lok Sabha that his ministry has received complaints against West Bengal's Chakra Infrastructure, icore E-Service, MPS Group, Prayag Group, Rose Valley Group, Tower Infotech, Vibgyor Group, URO Group, Saradha Group and many others for their involvement in Ponzi or multi-layermarketing schemes.
[15]
However no action was taken, it was
only after the unravelling of the scam that a host of measures were announced. On 25 April 2013,Income Tax department and Ministry of Corporate Affairs started separate investigation into Saradha Scam and the other similar ponzi
funds masquerading as NBFCs or CIS.
[101]
On the same day
the Enforcement Directorate (ED) ed a money laundering case, under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), at its Guwahati office as the Assam police has ed an FIR against the Saradha group to probe the allegations of financial irregularities by numerous depositors against it.
[102]
On 1 May 2013,
commenting on the regulatory loopholes, the Chairman of SEBI remarked that 'there should be one single regulator for entire collective investment schemes.'
[103]
On 7 May 2013, the Union Government set up an interministerial group with from corporate affairs ministry, SEBI, Reserve Bank of India and officers from the departmental of financial services. The group is supposed to unify the regulations of investment schemes by NBFCs, banks and companies, which at present are governed by different laws and regulations leading to regulatory loopholes etc.
[104]
In light of the scam, SEBI requested sweeping powers to investigate and prosecute any fraudulent collective investment schemes.
[105]
In August 2013, Central Government amended
the SEBI Act and gave SEBI powers to search and seize without prior magisterial permission to crack down on illegal money collection schemes.
[106][107]
Political reactions and protests[edit source | editbeta] There have been ongoing street protests around West Bengal, sometimes it has resulted in ransacking of offices of various ponzi funds.
[108]
The crash of the ponzi scheme and the
publication of the letter written by Sudipto Sen led to a barrage of cross party accusations, M accused TMC of hobnobbing with the 'chit fund', TMC on the other hand alleged that Union Minister of Finance's wife Nalini Chidambaram had taken lawyers fee from Saradha Group to incorporate its companies and should be investigated,
[109]
TMC also blamed M for
[110]
letting ponzi funds grow in Bengal.
M demanded that the
investigation should be done by CBI as many TMC leaders are involved in the scam thus an independent probe by state agencies is impossible. As per news media at least fifteen agents/depositors
[111][108][112][113][114][115][116][117][118]
and six
executives/directors of various money pooling companies have committed suicide in the aftermath of the scandal.
[119][120][121]
Judicial reactions[edit source | editbeta] On 22 April 2013, Public Interest Litigation (PIL) was filed in Guwahati High Court, by RTI activist Akhil Gogoi against Saradha and other such chit funds and in Calcutta High Court by advocate Basabi Roy Chowdhury seeking CBI investigation against the Saradha Group and other chit-fund companies.
[122]
On 25 April, responding to the PIL, a division
bench of Calcutta High Court comprising Chief Justice Arun Kumar Mishra and Justice Joymalya Bagchi said that since the ramifications of the scam included other states, a central agency would, perhaps, do justice to the investigation. However it gave state government one week to submit its investigation report to see if the probe is conducted in a fair manner.
[123]
On 7 May 2013, Calcutta High Court appointed a three member group to run Tara News and Tara [124]
Muzic.
Macroeconomic and microeconomic effects[edit source | editbeta]
Graph shows the fall of savings in government schemes with the rise of ponzi funds (figures on y axis are in Crores INR)
Companies illegally mobilising deposits diverted considerable funds (estimated to be around INR 240 billion in the last three years) from small savings funds promoted by state government. Official data show a steady slide in small-savings deposits and a spurt in withdrawals, which left a thin slice for the state government to borrow from to make ends meet. This had ripple effect on the overall macroeconomic situation of the state, as because instead of being used by government for public purpose the money went into ponzi schemes which either were siphoned off to foreign locations or were put to use for private gains.
[125]
On microeconomic front it is feared that legitimate Nonbanking financial companies and micro finance institutions would be stigmatised and would lead to a vicious cycle of low depositor trust, higher interest rates, lower lending and a localised credit crunch.
[126]
Furthermore as the majority of the
depositors in Saradha group came from the lowest economic strata, the loss of the investment would result in a further decrease in social mobility.
[127]
On the positive side, the scam
has drawn attention on similar illegal deposit mobilising companies which are facing increasing regulatory heat.
[128][129]
Many such companies which have been following
variations of time share travel schemes on which there are little clear regulations
[130]
are trying to as cooperative
societies to continue their financial operations.
[131]
Criminal prosecution and ongoing investigations[edit source | editbeta] FIR has been filed against Sudipto Sen and Kunal [132]
Ghosh.
Around 6 officials from Saradha Group have been
arrested. Numerous others from various illegal ponzi funds have also been arrested in several districts of West Bengal.
[133]
The investigation is being headed by detective
department of Bidhannagar police. The general ambit of investigation has also widened to include other ponzi funds which has scripted rags to riches stories for their promoters.
[134]
Kunal Ghosh along with other ponzi fund
officials from Saradha are being questioned by police to determine the true assets of the company and other facets of [135]
the fraud.
On 30 April 2013, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) started investigation into the scam in Assam at the request of the state government.
[136][137]
It has been indicated byChief Minister of
Tripura that Tripura may also order CBI probe into Saradha chit fund scam.
[138]
The Government of Odisha ordered the
Crime Branch of Odisha Police to start investigation on the Saradha scam.
[139]
Justice Shyamal Sen Commission[edit source | editbeta] By mid-August 2013, Justice Sen Commission finished its initial compilation of the list of claimants. Around 1.74 million depositors filed claims with the Commission. Out of which 83 per cent invested Rs 10,000 or less.
[140]
The Commission
recommended the state government to sell the assets of the company and proportionally distribute it among duped investors.
[141]
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Saradha's Bengal offices, knock at CM's door". Kolkata. Retrieved 29 April 2013. 109. ^ PTI. "Chit fund: TMC questions role of Chidambaram's wife in Saradha group". The Times of India. Retrieved 26 April 2013. 110. ^ "Many claims in letter – Sudipta Sen's missive to CBI". The Telegraph. 25 April 2013. Retrieved 29 April 2013. 111. ^ "Agent Suicide". The Telegraph (Kolkota). 18 June 2013. Retrieved 19 June 2013. 112. ^ Sharma, Bijoy (1 June 2013). "Saradha agent kills self". The Telegraph (Dhubri). Retrieved 2 June 2013. 113. ^ "Agent wife dead". The Telegraph (Tamluk). 27 May 2013. Retrieved 28 May 2013. 114. ^ "Agent dead". The Telegraph (Bengal). 26 May 2013. Retrieved 26 May 2013. 115. ^ "Employee hangs self". The Telegraph (Kolkota). 22 May 2013. Retrieved 23 May 2013. 116. ^ "Saradha scam: Stream of suicides continues, another agent hangs self". India Today (Kolkata). 16 May 2013. Retrieved 17 May 2013. 117. ^ "Saradha scam: 2 more commit suicide, toll mounts to 10". Business Line(Kolkata). 6 May 2013. Retrieved 9 May 2013. 118. ^ "Terrifying consequence rears head Suicide after savings blow". The Telegrpah(Baruipur). 21 April 2013. Retrieved 29 April 2013. 119. ^ "Meltdown of company triggers suicides in India". Asia News Network. 8 May 2013. Retrieved 9 May 2013. 120. ^ "Deposit company owner hangs self". The Telegraph (Kolkota). 3 May 2013. Retrieved 9 May 2013. 121. ^ "Default assault on firm boss". The Telegraph (Durgapur). 16 May 2013. Retrieved 17 May 2013.
122. ^ "Road blockades across Bengal; two PILs filed". Business Line (Kolkata). 22 April 2013. Retrieved 29 April 2013. 123. ^ "Saradha money scam: Calcutta High Court and Central govt stepping in". Kerala Next. 29 April 2013. Retrieved 29 April 2013. 124. ^ " lifeline for two TV channels owned by Saradha". The Indian Express. 7 May 2013. Retrieved 9 May 2013. 125. ^ Sarkar, Pranesh (25 pPril 2013). "Snore & drown savings bell ... Zzzzzzzzzzzz ...". The Telegraph (Kolkata). Retrieved 29 April 2013. 126. ^ "Saradha Group has nothing to do with Chit Fund business: CFAI". New Delhi: Zee News. 29 April 2013. Retrieved 29 April 2013. 127. ^ Chowdhury, Charandas (6 May 2013). "Indian Ponzi Scheme Gets a Political Bailout". Bloomberg. Retrieved 9 May 2013. 128. ^ Basu, Manish (6 May 2013). "ICore E-Services on the verge of collapse". Livemint. Retrieved 9 May 2013. 129. ^ Pandey, Alok (27 April 2013). "After Saradha Group's collapse, focus on rural Bengal's 'get rich' schemes". Singur: NDTV. Retrieved 9 May 2013. 130. ^ Ghosh, Pinak (20 May 2013). "Sebi and Rose hurl thorns in ad valley". The Telegraph (Kolkota). Retrieved 21 May 2013. 131. ^ Basu, Manish (20 May 2013). "Saradha fallout: Bengal firms eye cooperative society status". LiveMint (Kolkata). Retrieved 21 May 2013. 132. ^ "Our proximity was our power". The Telegraph. 27 April 2013. Retrieved 29 April 2013. 133. ^ "Ponzi fire spreads to other firms". Hindustan Times (Berhampore). 28 April 2013. Retrieved 29 April 2013. 134. ^ Ray, Atmadip; Anuradha Himatsingka & Sutanuka Ghosal (29 April 2013). "Saradha chit fund scam: The top five
among Bengal's flourishing financial grey market". The Economic Times. Retrieved 29 April 2013. 135. ^ "Signal in Kunal quiz". The Telegraph. 30 April 2013. Retrieved 29 April 2013. 136. ^ "CBI starts investigation in Assam". Bartaman (in Bengali) (Kolkata). 30 April 2013. 137. ^ "Chit fund scam: CBI team to meet Assam Police in Guwahati". Guwahati: ANI. 30 April 2013. 138. ^ "Tripura may order CBI probe into Saradha chit fund scam". India Today (Agartala). 30 April 2013. Retrieved 30 April 2013. 139. ^ "State feels Saradha aftershocks". The Telegraph. 30 April 2013. Retrieved 30 April 2013. 140. ^ Basu, Kinshuk; Pranesh Sarkar (19 August 2013). "Saradha vow faces tricky sums". The Telegraph (Kolkata). Retrieved 19 August 2013. 141. ^ Basak, Probal; Namrata Acharya (5 August 2013). "Sen to recommend selling of Saradha assets". Business Standard (Kolkata). Retrieved 19 August 2013.
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