Saradha case: ED attaches assets of ‘beneficiaries’ including P Chidambaram’s wife

New Delhi: The Directorate of Enforcement, Kolkata, on Friday said it attached movable assets worth Rs 3.30 crore and immovable assets with a value of over Rs 3 crore in its ongoing investigation into the matter of Saradha Group of Companies under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002.

These properties were owned by Saradha Group and others — Nalini Chidambaram, Debabrata Sarkar, former IPS and former MLA Communist Party of India (Marxist) Debendranath Biswas — and properties of Anubhuti Printers and Publications owned by late Anjan Dutta, former Minister in Assam.

These were the beneficiaries of proceeds of crime generated by the Saradha Group of Companies, the probe agency said in a statement.

Saradha Group ran a chit-fund scam with operations spread over the states of West Bengal, Assam and Orissa, till 2013.

The quantum of total money mobilised by this group company is about Rs 2,459 crore of which nearly Rs 1,983 crore remains unpaid to the depositors to date excluding the interest amount, the agency said.

The probe agency had registered a case against Saradha Group of Companies in 2013 on the basis of first information reports (FIRs) by Kolkata Police and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

In the past, prior to the issue of this attachment order, ED-Kolkata had issued eight provisional attachment orders attaching assets or properties whose value is more than Rs 600 crore. The agency said further investigation is being undertaken.