Saradha assets to go under hammer!

* ED to seek court nod for auction

* Sudipto’s ponzi group raked in Rs 500 crore from Assam

BY OUR STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI, May 20: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is likely to auction the properties of the Saradha chit fund group after it gets permission from the court. Sources said the directorate is planning to move the court seeking permission to auction the properties spread over West Bengal, Assam and Odisha. The immovable and movable assets seized by the ED are valued at Rs 1,000 crore. The properties were owned by the Saradha group in the me of various companies it had floated.

Investigations have revealed that the Saradha group floated at least 279 companies to channelise money collected from gullible investors as part of a vast ponzi network.

Most of these firms have been found to be ‘inoperatiol’ and were utilised for the sole purpose of multi-routing of funds to hide the money trail, while close to Rs 2,500 crore were raised by just four companies.

In Assam, the chit fund group collected over Rs 500 crore from gullible investors.

The ED is also expected to file the chargesheet in the Saradha money laundering scam next month.