Union MoS for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary handed over a demand draft of Rs 515.31 crore Saturday to Justice (retired) D K Seth, Chairman of the Asset Disposal Committee formed for the purpose of restitution of properties to legitimate investors in the Rose Valley Ponzi scam.
“It is estimated that this amount will be used to restitute money to around 7.5 lakh victims out of the total claims of 31 lakh lodged so far with the Asset Disposal Committee. Earlier, the ED had handed over an amount of Rs 22 crore to the ADC which was used to restitute money to 32,319 lawful investors,” a ED spokesperson said.
ED Director Rahul Navin, and other senior officials of the government were also present on the occasion.
“The amount of Rs. 515.31 crore was attached by ED in the years 2015-17 by investigating money trail and tracing 2,987 different bank accounts where the money collected from innocent victims had traversed. The bank accounts were then seized/ attached following due process of law and converted into more than 700 Fixed Deposits after confirmation of attachment by the adjudicating authority,” the spokesperson said.
The ED has also attached other movable and immovable assets of Rs 1,172 crore (present market value of the assets is estimated to be more than Rs 2,000 crore), which is also in process of liquidation and refund to the victims, the spokesperson said, adding that ED is investigating five PMLA cases against the Rose Valley Group in West Bengal, Odisha, Assam and Tripura.
“ED has filed prosecution complaints in all these cases before the Special Courts under PMLA. Investigation under PMLA revealed that Rose Valley Group companies, had collected funds of Rs 17,520 crore by luring people mostly from the lowest strata of society with promises of providing land parcels or time sharing in hotels and in the event of inability to deliver the land/time sharing, refund with high rate of interest was promised on maturity of investments,” the spokesperson said.
“Probe has revealed that out of the above, an amount of Rs 6,666 crore, which constitutes the proceeds of crime, remained unpaid to the investors. This is one of the single-largest investigation of this type undertaken by the ED, and an order passed by the Special court (PMLA) at Khurda, Bhubaneswar, on March 29 has paved the way for the return of investors’ money all over the country through the Asset Disposal Committee (ADC),” the spokesperson said.