-Economic and Political Weekly The Saradha group's collapse has possibly bankrupted lakhs of small investors robbing them of their life svaings, and has rendered thousands of its agents jobless. The scam highlights the failure of the government and its regulatory agencies to reign in the mushrooming chit fund companies in West Bengal. It also brings under the scanner the Trinamool Congress' proximity with the tainted group. In the wake of the...
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Mamata's nephew a party to Ponzi schemes: CPM
-The Hindustan Times Demanding a CBI inquiry into Saradha Group financial scam, CPI(M) has accused chief minister Mamata Banerjee's nephew of being involved in Ponzi schemes. "Mamata Banerjee's nephew Abhishek Banerjee, who is the leader of Trinamool Youth Congress, runs a company which is involved in Real Estate and micro-finance and has made a huge amount of money in the last two to three years. Its turnover has skyrocketed to 300 crores...
More »In story of Saradha's crores, Bengal's forgotten hundreds -Madhuparna Das
-The Indian Express West Bengal is not new to chit fund scams. What is unique to the Saradha Group scandal is how it targeted the poorest and the most marginalised, leaving them on the verge of devastation. From 17-year-old agents who raised money from depositors to 50-year-old widows who invested money, the Saradha Group didn't discriminate in roping them in. Since the house of cards started collapsing, two agents and two...
More »Different schemes built on different structures -Vinod Kothari
-The Hindu Even as thousands come to terms with the loss of life savings in the West Bengal "chit funds," it is interesting to find politicians promising new stern laws against such funds. Absence of laws is the least of the reasons for such schemes flourishing in the State. We are not short of such laws - in fact, we have plenty of laws that prohibit such schemes and provide for...
More »Under regulator’s nose-Indrani Dutta
-The Hindu Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee may be sleeping easy as she has "settled all the issues at hand" on the Saradha scam. Saradha Group promoter Sudipto Sen has been booked and a Rs. 500-crore kitty has been created to make refunds to the depositors. However, no one is clear just how the refunds would be made and whether existing laws permit it. Mr. Sen's bubble may have burst. But the travails...
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