Tag: Debjani Mukherjee

Calcutta HC Grants Bail to Saradha Chit Fund Scam Accused

Mukherjee, who was the director in Saradha Group of companies, is a co-accused with its promoter Sudipto Sen.

Kolkata: The Calcutta high court on Saturday granted bail to Debjani Mukherjee, an accused in the multi-crore Saradha chit fund scam, in one of the several criminal cases against her.

Mukherjee, who was the director in Saradha Group of companies, is a co-accused with its promoter Sudipto Sen. The duo was arrested in 2013.

A division bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Rajesh Bindal and Justice Arijit Banerjee ordered bail to Mukherjee on furnishing a bond of Rs 2 lakh with two sureties of Rs 1 lakh each, one of whom must be local.

Mukherjee will, however, continue to remain behind bars since she is yet to obtain bail in cases pending against her in other states.

The Saradha group allegedly cheated thousands of depositors, promising abnormally high returns on investments in its illegal schemes.

Moving the bail petition before the high court, the petitioner’s lawyer Jayanta Narayan Chatterjee contended that she was arrested on April 22, 2013, and has been in custody since then.

The Central Bureau of Investigation, which is investigating the case, stated that such arrest was in connection with some other criminal case and in so far as the present case is concerned, Mukherjee was apprehended on June 14, 2014.

The charge-sheet in the case was filed on October 22, 2014, and the investigation against the accused persons including the petitioner is complete, the court noted.

The Enforcement Directorate has attached assets worth Rs 600 crore in this case till now, as per news reports.

The bench further noted that the trial in the case has not started yet and the petitioner is in custody for more than seven years.

“It is also pertinent to note that Kunal Kumar Ghosh, a co-accused, in the same case, was granted interim bail by this court on October 5, 2016 which was confirmed by this court on January 6, 2017,” the bench observed while granting bail to Mukherjee in the case.

(With inputs from PTI)

CBI Summons TMC MP Derek O’Brien in Saradha Scam Probe

The Rajya Sabha MP, who is also a spokesperson of West Bengal’s ruling party, has been asked to appear before a CBI team in the first week of August.

New Delhi: The CBI has summoned Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Derek O’Brien for its investigation into the Saradha ponzi scheme case, officials said on Friday.

The Rajya Sabha MP, who is also a spokesperson of West Bengal’s ruling party, has been asked to appear before a CBI team in the first week of August, they said.

The agency had summoned him in January too, but he sought time, citing the ongoing winter session of Parliament, they said.

The officials said the quizmaster-turned-politician might be questioned about some financial transactions noticed by sleuths in the bank accounts of TMC mouthpiece ‘Jago Bangla’.

O’Brien is the publisher of the party’s official newspaper.

Also read: RTI Bill Voting: Derek O’Brien Accuses BJP MP of Manipulating Ballot

The agency is investigating links of arrested Bengali film producer Shrikant Mohta to the promoters of Rose Valley, a company accused in the scam.

Mohta had allegedly cut a deal of Rs 25 crore with the promoters of Rose Valley, and a portion of this money is suspected to have been diverted in the ‘Jago Bangla’ account.

O’Brien alleged that the CBI notice was sent as the TMC was opposing amendments to the Right to Information Act.

The CBI may also question O’Brien regarding the sale of several paintings of Mamata Banerjee which were purchased by owners of several ponzi scam companies allegedly at a huge price, the officials said.

The agency has seized several such paintings worth lakhs of rupees, they said.

The TMC had strongly rejected the allegations.

Also read: Saradha Scam: Rajeev Kumar Skips Meeting With CBI, Seeks More Time

The agency has already questioned party general secretary Subrata Bakshi in connection with the case.

The Supreme Court had ordered a probe into the multi-crore rupee Saradha scam and transferred the case to CBI in 2014.

Thousands of investors were left in the lurch by the scam, and it led to the arrest of many leaders and ministers of the TMC. All of them are now out on bail.

Saradha group founder Sudipta Sen and his associate Debjani Mukherjee, arrested in 2013 from Kashmir, are in custody.

Vodafone, Airtel Not Handing Over Call Data Records for Saradha Scam Probe: CBI to SC

The apex court was hearing CBI’s contempt application against various senior officials of the West Bengal government on the ground of non-cooperation in its probe and alleged tampering of evidence.

New Delhi: The Supreme Court Friday agreed to hear a plea of CBI against mobile service providers Vodafone and Airtel that they were not cooperating with the investigation in Saradha chit fund scam case.

CBI claimed that they were not providing it full call detail records (CDRs) of the accused in the scam despite repeated requests.

A bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justices Deepak Gupta and Sanjiv Khanna issued notice and sought the reply of mobile service providers by April 8, the next date of hearing.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for CBI, said the service providers were not cooperating with the probe agency despite repeated requests for the CDRs.

Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for the companies, denied the allegations and said that they are providing all the necessary assistance to the agency.

Also read: Saradha Scam Assam Timeline: Why Mamata Is Daring BJP to Arrest Himanta Biswa Sarma

CBI had recently filed a status report relating to the interrogation of the then Kolkata Police commissioner Rajeev Kumar in connection with the scam.

The apex court had on March 26 termed as “very very serious” the revelations made by the CBI in its status report relating to interrogation of Kumar.

The top court had said that it cannot “close its eyes” if some “very very serious facts” were disclosed to it and directed the agency to file an application seeking appropriate relief against Kumar, who had earlier headed the state SIT to probe the chit fund scam.

It had refused to drop the contempt proceedings against the West Bengal DGP, the chief secretary and Kumar.

It was hearing CBI’s contempt application against various senior officials of the West Bengal government on the ground of non-cooperation in its probe and alleged tampering of evidence, including CDRs of key accused and Saradha group CMD Sudipta Sen and Debjani Mukherjee.

The court, which had earlier directed the CBI director to file an affidavit giving details about the alleged contempt committed by West Bengal cops and others in the case, had perused the reply of the CBI chief and the fresh status report, pertaining to quizzing of Kumar.

The agency alleged non-cooperation by the West Bengal police and providing of incomplete information as also tampering with details.

The apex court had said that the allegations made by the CBI were serious enough and it was an “obligation” on part of the agency to disclose full details of the alleged contempt committed by the then police commissioner.

It had questioned the CBI for the delay in moving the apex court when the agency allegedly noticed the tampering of electronic evidence in June 2018.

The probe agency came out with a contempt petition after the February 3 incident in which the CBI sleuths, who had gone to probe Kumar at his residence, were taken into custody and manhandled by the West Bengal Police.

Though the apex court had taken note of the February 3 incident in which the top police officers of the state police allegedly sat with chief minister Mamata Banerjee on dharna, it was annoyed as to why the CBI did not bring to its notice the tampering of the CDRs when it happened in June 2018.