The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday afternoon arrested Subhra Kundu, a former actress and wife of Gautam Kundu, the arrested owner of the chit fund company Rose Valley, from Kolkata in connection with an alleged multi-crore scam that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) is also investigating.
The ₹17,000 crore Rose Valley scam is reportedly the biggest in Bengal in terms of the money involved. In 2014, the Supreme Court asked the CBI to investigate the scam and the role of influential people in money laundering in West Bengal.
Two Trinamool Congress (TMC) Lok Sabha members, Sudip Bandopadhyay and Tapas Pal, were arrested by the CBI in 2017 in connection with the scam. Pal died last year, months after he was released on bail.
Subhra Kundu was arrested from her apartment in an upmarket south Kolkata condominium and brought to the CBI office at the CGO complex at Salt Lake for questioning. She has been interrogated several times by the CBI and ED since 2015 when her husband was arrested by the latter. He has been in judicial custody since.
Friday’s arrest came two days after that of former TMC Rajya Sabha MP and businessman KD Singh in Delhi in connection with an alleged money laundering case involving his Alchemist Group.
{{/usCountry}}Friday’s arrest came two days after that of former TMC Rajya Sabha MP and businessman KD Singh in Delhi in connection with an alleged money laundering case involving his Alchemist Group.
{{/usCountry}}A CBI official said on condition of anonymity that Subhra Kundu was under scanner for a long time as she is the director of two sister companies of Rose Valley. Although these companies are officially closed, some bank transactions have been detected in the accounts by these companies. Subhra Kundu, officials said, could not provide any satisfactory answer regarding the same.
Although the CBI and ED are investigating several high-profile scams, such as the Saradha and Rose Valley, trial has not started in these.
Last year, Calcutta high court chief justice T B Radhakrishnan constituted a two-judge bench for hearing ponzi scheme cases every Friday. The hearings started on September 25.
Formation of a separate bench for ponzi schemes is being viewed in political circles as a significant development since several prominent leaders of the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) figure among the accused in the Saradha case.
Meanwhile, reacting to Subhra Kundu’s arrest, TMC Lok Sabha member and party spokesperson Saugata Roy said, “The Supreme Court asked the CBI to conduct the probe. The Central agency is doing its duty.”
BJP’s West Bengal vice-president Jay Prakash Majumdar welcomed the arrest and said, “All influential people and politicians involved in chit fund cases must be arrested as well.”