Saradha Scam: ED files new chargesheet, names former Bengal DGP and former CPM MLA

ED files fresh charge sheet in Saradha group money laundering case. In this case, a former DGP of West Bengal and a former CPI(M) MLA have been made accused. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday said it has filed a fresh chargesheet in the Saradha Group money laundering case and named a former DGP and a former CPI(M) MLA as accused.

The federal agency said in a statement that the second supplementary prosecution complaint was filed before a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Kolkata on August 21 and the court took cognizance of the charge sheet on the same day.

The latest charge sheet includes former West Bengal Armed Police DGP Rajat Kumar Majumdar, former Indian Police Service officer and former CPI(M) MLA Debendranath Biswas, East Bengal Club executive committee members Debabrata Sarkar and Sandhir Agarwal, Sajjan Agarwal, Naresh Balodia and Anubhuti Printers and Publications Private Limited has been made an accused. It said the company is owned by late Anjan Dutta, former cabinet minister of Assam and president of the state Congress party.

They are accused of receiving the proceeds of crime from Saradha group companies and projecting it as unblemished property. According to the ED, the Saradha Group was engaged in illegal recovery of huge sums of money from innocent investors in large parts of eastern India during 2009-2013 without any proper permission from the regulatory authorities. "Subsequently, the Saradha Group used the funds raised from the public for the personal benefit of the promoters and defaulted in payment to the investors," it said.

The agency had earlier issued nine attachment orders for attachment of assets worth Rs 380 crore in this case. The ED had registered a criminal case against the Saradha Group and its promoters in 2013 after going through some FIRs of the Kolkata Police against the accused.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday said it has filed a charge sheet on charges of money laundering in a case related to the alleged sale of counterfeit goods by branded liquor companies such as United Spirits Ltd and French company Pernod Ricard. The agency said in a statement that a prosecution complaint against a person named Kishore Shaw was filed before a special court on Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in Kolkata on August 21 and the court took cognizance of the charge sheet on the same day.

The money laundering case stems from an FIR registered by the Kolkata Police against Shaw under the Copyright Act, 1957, alleging sale of spurious liquor by United Spirits Limited and Pernod Ricard India (P) Limited. The ED had in January attached bank deposits of over Rs 13.09 lakh from Shaw.