The ED said it initiated investigation under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act on the basis of FIRs and chargesheets received from West Bengal Police
Bank accounts of St Xavier’s College, Kolkata and Knight Riders Sports Pvt Ltd, the holding company of IPL team Kolkata Knight Riders, are among those provisionally attached by the Enforcement Directorate in an alleged money laundering case linked to the Rose Valley chit fund scandal. The book value of the assets attached is said to be over Rs 70 crore.
The ED said movable and immovable properties of various entities and individuals who allegedly received funds from the Rose Valley Group and related entities have been attached. These include bank accounts of M/s Multiple Resorts Pvt Ltd, St Xavier’s College, Kolkata, M/s Knight Riders Sports Pvt Ltd etc. The total amount attached in these bank accounts have been pegged by ED at Rs 16.20 crore.
Venky Mysore, CEO of KKR and Red Chillies Entertainment, did not respond to a text message from The Indian Express seeking comment. The ED also attached 24 acres of landed property in Ramnagar and Mahishadal, Purba Medinipur, West Bengal; a flat at Dilkap Chambers, Mumbai and one acre of landed property at Jyoti Basu Nagar, New Town, Kolkata and one hotel on VIP Road.
The ED said it initiated investigation under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act on the basis of FIRs and chargesheets received from West Bengal Police against the Rose Valley Group of Companies and others. The FIRs and chargesheets, the ED said, reveal that the Rose Valley Group of Companies had been collecting deposits from the public with the intention to cheat them by falsely promising high returns on investment.
“Investigation under PMLA has revealed that Rose Valley Group of Companies collected more than Rs 17,520 crores from public throughout India by luring depositors with false promise of high return/interest on their deposits out of which an amount of Rs 10,850 crores was refunded and remaining Rs 6670 crore is still unpaid which constitutes the proceeds of crime. The Company diverted and siphoned the amount through cheating and had no real business that could repay this amount, “ the ED said in a statement.
“The promoter/owner/chairman of Rose Valley Group of Companies, Gautam Kundu, was arrested by Enforcement Directorate in March 2015 and is still in judicial custody,†the ED said.
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