CBI investigations into the multi-crore Saradha chit fund scam have revealed that accused firms appointed cooks and peons as “dummy” directors. Sources said cooks and peons were appointed as dummy directors in at least 160 accused firms which had been floated initially.
Without disclosing the names of these companies, sources said, “During interrogation these dummy directors claimed they had signed on various documents as per the instructions of their bosses. They had no idea about the functioning of their firms and had nothing to do with the fraud”. The majority of the dummy directors were not well educated and did not exactly know what the rank of a firm director meant, sources added.
Further, investigations into the multi-crore chit fund scam have also revealed that the top management of the firms involved in the case allegedly tried to deceive statutory regulators by furnishing details other than the one sought by the regulatory bodies. Most of the information provided by the scam-hit firms to the regulators was not even relevant to the probe being conducted by the latter.
The CBI is also preparing to initiate action against “statutory auditors” and the stock market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) to probe their alleged role in the “criminal conspiracy” of siphoning of money deposited by small investors.
The agency is also planning to take up cases registered against Saradha Group of companies in Assam very soon.
Sources said, “The roles of other regulatory bodies like Registrar of Companies (RoC) and Reserve Bank of India (RBI) are also being looked into by the CBI sleuths after the Supreme Court’s directive.”
Investigators are trying their level best to understand the modus operandi of the accused companies, the quantum of deposits collected from the public by different companies and their movable and immovable properties, sources said.
All persons who were arrested in connection with the scam have already been examined, they added. The CBI had named the Trinamul Congress’ sitting Rajya Sabha member Kunal Ghosh as one of the accused. Mr Ghosh was earlier the Saradha Group’s chief executive officer (Saradha Media).