Enforcement Directorate logo.
Credit: PTI File Photo
The Enforcement Directorate on Monday said it has filed a fresh charge sheet in the Saradha Group money laundering case and named a former DGP and an ex-CPM MLA as accused.
The second supplementary prosecution complaint was filed on August 21 before a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Kolkata and the court took cognisance of the charge sheet on that day itself, the federal agency said in a statement.
Those named as accused in the latest charge sheet are Rajat Kumar Majumder, the former DGP of West Bengal armed police, Debendranath Biswas, a former Indian Police Service officer and ex-CPM MLA, Debabrata Sarkar, an executive committee member of the East Bengal Club, and Sandhir Agarwal, Sajjan Agarwal, Naresh Balodia and Anubhuti Printers and Publication Private Limited, Guwahati, a company owned by late Anjan Dutta, a former Assam cabinet minister and president of state Congress party, it said.
They have been accused of "acquiring" proceeds of crime from Saradha Group of companies and concealing and projecting it as untainted property, it added.
According to the ED, the Saradha Group was engaged in illegal collection of a huge sum from innocent investors in large parts of eastern India during 2009-2013 without any due permission from regulatory authorities.
"Subsequently, Saradha Group diverted the funds collected from the public for the personal benefits of promoters and defaulted on repayment to investors," it said.
The agency had earlier issued nine attachment orders for seizing assets worth Rs 380 crore in this case.
The ED filed a criminal case against the Saradha Group and its promoters in 2013 after studying some Kolkata Police FIRs registered against the accused.