- विज्ञापन -
Kolkata: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has apprehended two directors of the Prayag Group, a West Bengal-based company operating in neighboring states, in connection with a significant chit fund case. The individuals arrested are Basudeb Bagchi and Abhik Bagchi.
The Prayag Group has been under investigation by both the ED and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for some time due to their involvement in various illegal activities. Sources indicate that the arrests followed extensive raids and searches at multiple locations in Kolkata, including the residences of the two directors.
The charges against the company are serious, including the collection of funds through various multi-level marketing schemes that promised high returns, illicitly transferring money via hawala channels, defrauding investors by failing to pay promised returns, and engaging in money laundering.
This is not the first time the directors have faced legal trouble related to ponzi schemes; they were previously arrested by CBI officials in a case in Odisha. The Prayag Group is accused of illegally gathering public deposits under the guise of multi-level marketing operations across West Bengal, Odisha, Tripura, and Assam, with estimates suggesting they amassed nearly Rs 2,000 crore through various schemes.
Both directors are reported to have close ties with former West Bengal Education Minister and Trinamool Congress Secretary General Partha Chatterjee, who is currently in judicial custody over a separate multi-crore cash-for-school job scandal in West Bengal.
West Bengal has a long history of chit fund scams, beginning with the Sanchaita Ponzi scheme in the 1980s, and several high-profile cases, such as Saradha and Rose Valley, emerged in 2012.
