New Delhi: The CBI Friday summoned Trinamool Congress MP Derek O’Brien in connection with the ongoing probe in the Saradha chit fund case. According to a source in the agency, O’Brien has been asked to join the investigation before the Kolkata unit of the CBI in the first week of August.
O’Brien himself refused to comment on the matter, but the senior leader, who did not want to be named, said: “It is nothing else but intimidation of opposition members by the ruling party.”
This is not the first time O’Brien has been summoned for questioning in connection with the case. He was earlier summoned in February this year along with Manik Majumdar, a close aide of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
When Majumdar was questioned, O’Brien had claimed he was busy with the Parliament session, and would not be able to join the probe.
Earlier, on 17 July, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had also summoned six people, including Trinamool MP Satabdi Roy and suspended Trinamool leader Kunal Ghosh in connection with the case.
The CBI action comes months after the BJP targetted the ruling TMC in West Bengal, including Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. At a rally in East Midnapore district on 29 January, BJP president Amit Shah accused Banerjee of selling her paintings at inflated prices to chit fund companies in dubious deals.
Money from the sale of her paintings was used to set up and expand operations of Jago Bangla, the mouthpiece paper of the TMC, he alleged.
Shah had also assured the gathering that if the BJP was voted to power, it would bring back every penny and return it to the investors.
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The scam
A series of companies, including Saradha, Rose Valley, Alchemist and I-Core, allegedly duped investors of thousands of crores by convincing them to invest in various Ponzi schemes, and then diverting the funds to several accounts.
These accounts are said to have included those of politicians, with some money also allegedly invested in the Bengali film industry.
According to investigators, the masterminds of these cons often wooed these investors with conferences and events at five-star hotels and farmhouses.
When market regulator SEBI caught a whiff of the scam, Saradha allegedly launched collective investment schemes such as tourism packages, infrastructure finance, and motorcycle manufacturing.
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This report has been updated with quotes from a senior TMC leader, after O’Brien refused to comment.
(Inputs from Moushumi Das Gupta)
Wheels of justice are catching up with the former quizmaster. CBI must get to the bottom of the chit funds scams of Bengal and ensure that money is returned to the investors.