Rose Valley scam: Did Gautam Kundu use the LIC to further the scam?

Even as the Enforcement Directorate readies the first of the five Chargesheets in the Rose Valley scam, the Central Bureau of Investigation on the other hand has issued notices to the LIC in connection with the case.

The scam is getting bigger with each passing day and the investigating agencies have found that the group had acquired 5000 acres of land at a throw away price across several states including West Bengal, Assam, Tripura, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Orissa [Rose Valley scam: Another headache in the making for TMC]

In addition to this are the media houses that have come under the scanner. The Rose Valley had a stake in several media houses such as the News Team Assam, News Team Orissa, Rupasi Bangla, News Time Bangla, Dhoom Music, Dhoom Bangla, Khabar 365 Din and Cinema Ebong.

CBI notice to LIC

The Central Bureau of Investigation issued notices to the LIC over alleged links to the Rose Valley Group. The CBI is seeking a clarification from the LIC on an alleged links.

The CBI seeks to know if there was any contract between the Rose Valley Group and the LIC. The allegation by the CBI is that several depositors were cheated using the LIC name by issuing fake certificates.

It is alleged that the Rose Valley group while collecting deposits had issued LIC certificates to several of its depositors. Many depositors have claimed that the certificates and receipts issued to them are fake.

The CBI wants to know if there was any official contract between the Rose Valley Group and the LIC. If there was indeed such a deal LIC has been asked to produce the contract agreement.

The Gautam Kundu Empire

Gautam Kundu the chairman of the Rose Valley group made a humble beginning as an LIC agent. Kundu used to run a chit fund scheme and this is what the investigators say was the making of a multi crore scam.
He had been asked to shut down the chit fund business by the SEBI, but despite his claims that it was no longer running it was found that he had not been telling the truth.

Kundu has maintained before the investigators that he is being framed. He told both the CBI and the ED that his was an assets driven company [Money laundering case: Rose Valley Chairman Gautam Kundu's bail plea rejected]

Kundu felt that he could get away when depositors lined up outside his office after the Saradha scam broke out. Several depositors felt that he had cheated them like was done in the case of the Saradha group.
However Kundu in his own flamboyant style signed a Rs 10 crore cheque and handed it out to the depositors.

Kundu has gone on to invest in several projects and unlike the Saradha group he never went bust after the scam broke out. His media companies and his land acquisitions kept him going.

Moreover he was seen with the who is who of the industry as he invested heavily in films and also in the IPL team Kolkata Knight Riders during seasons 5 and 6.

His land deals are also under the scanner. He himself had claimed that he had acquired land to the tune of 5000 acres across West Bengal, Assam, Tripura, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Odisha.

The Chargesheet

Gautam Kundu and his company will have a lot to answer in the days to come as the ED files its first chargesheet today. This is the first of the five chargesheets in the scam which has been broken into various aspects.

The chargesheet will be filed under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. The SEBI had complained extensively about the Rose Valley group and the first of the chargesheets will rely solely on the investigations conducted following this complaint.

The rest of the chargesheets would deal with the conspiracy, land dealings, political connections and also the investments into the media houses.