`17,000-cr Rose Valley scam 7 times bigger than Saradha

THE GROUP DUPED MILLIONS OF INVESTORS, MOST OF THEM FROM LOW-INCOME GROUP, IN AT LEAST 10 STATES

NEW DELHI: The West Bengal-based Rose Valley group cheated investors of `17,000 crore, the CBI has confirmed, making the chit-fund scam seven times bigger than the Saradha scandal that generated a lot of political heat in Bengal.

The hospitality-to-real estate group robbed millions of investors, most of them from lowincome group, in at least 10 states, including Bengal, Odisha and Andhra, promising exaggerated returns, agency sources said.

“In popular perception, the Saradha Group has been the biggest culprit that duped the public of its hard-earned money, but it was actually the RV (Rose Valley) group in India’s Northeast and eastern states,” a source familiar with the investigation said.

A lot of numbers were being thrown around after the SC in May 2014 ordered a probe against 24 chit-fund firms in a `1.2-lakh crore financial scandal but it is now that the CBI has come up with the sums stolen from investors.

Documents accessed by HT show that the little-known Rose Valley group is the biggest player in the scandal involving firms operating unlicensed financial schemes that escaped regulators’ scrutiny. In fact, the extent of fraud committed by many other firms is also much bigger than previously thought.

It is believed that more than 60 million Indians have been victims of such unregulated, or chit-fund, schemes. These schemes are typically targeted at Tier 2 and 3 cities where unsuspecting investors, most of whom are outside the banking system, are lured with ‘moneymultiplying’ offers.

The CBI, which is still investigating the case, has submitted a charge sheet against four senior Rose Valley officials, including Kundu, in a Bhubaneswar court in January.