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.