ED Raids Nine Sahara Group Premises In Ponzi Scheme Case

An Enforcement Directorate team of Kolkata Zonal Office conducted multiple raids on Tuesday at nine premises owned by the Sahara Group in connection with the ponzi scheme case, reported NDTV.

The ED said that the places raided were related to land and share deals related to Sahara Group. The raids were conducted in locations across Ghaziabad, Lucknow, Sri Ganganagar and Mumbai under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

According to the report, during the raid, the ED found many important documents, records and statements of people involved in the case. However the investigation is still ongoing.

The ED's investigation started on the basis of three FIRs registered against Hamara India Credit Cooperative Society Ltd and others. Over 500 FIRs were registered against Sahara Group companies across the country, out of which more than 300 are related to crimes registered under PMLA.

It is alleged that instead of returning the money of investors on maturity, the group forced them to reinvest it forcibly and refused to pay. According to the investigation by ED, Sahara Group was running a ponzi scheme through its different companies.

People and agents were lured with high profits and commissions and money was deposited. But this money was managed without any regulation and instead of returning the money to the investors, the company reinvested it and manipulated the papers.

Earlier, ED had issued provisional attachment orders thrice in this case for 707 acres of land of Aamby Valley with a market value of Rs 1,460 crore and for 1,023 acres of land of Sahara Prime City Ltd. which is valued at Rs 1,538 crore.

The provisional attachment also included order on movable assets of Chandani Roy, the wife of Seemant Roy.

The ED had earlier arrested Anil Valaparampil Abraham, executive director of Sahara Group Chairman Core Management Office, and Jitendra Prasad Verma, a property broker associated with the group for a long time. Both are currently in judicial custody.