Saradha chit fund scam: Former Union Minister Matang Sinh’s wife Manoranjana is latest to be arrested

The agency arrested Manoranjana after interrogating her earlier in the day. She is accused of allegedly taking money from Saradha group chairman Sudipta Sen, misappropriation of funds, cheating and criminal conspiracy.

The other arrested accused, Ghosh, the co-founder of the now-defunct Xenitis Group, had earlier been arrested by the enforcement directorate over money laundering allegations and had been out on bail since August 26 last year. The alleged mastermind of the scam, Shantanu Sen, has claimed that Ghosh had pressured him into purchase his automobile company which had “huge liabilties”.

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CBI spokesperson Devpreet Singh said both the arrested accused will be produced in Alipore court Thursday.

The spokesperson said both the arrested persons had been interrogated earlier too, but they not only failed to explain the facts but also allegedly concealed vital information and did not cooperate with the CBI. They were arrested after their “alleged involvement in criminal conspiracy” with the then CMD of Saradha group “for obtaining personal gains of huge amount running into crores of rupees by way of misappropriation of funds collected from innumerable poor investors and also cheating them” came to light during the investigation, the spokesperson said.

The agency had registered the case on June 4 last year in accordance with the Supreme Court order a month earlier against the then CMD of Saradha group Shantanu Sen and others under sections pertaining to criminal conspiracy, cheating and other offences. It was alleged that the accused persons collected huge funds from investors under various investment schemes by fraudulently promising them high returns but failed to pay the amount to them and thereby cheated them.

In a related development, actor-turned Trinamool MP Tapas Paul too was summoned by the CBI for questioning in connection with the scam.

Paul had allegedly drawn money running into crores from the Rose Valley Group, another ponzi firm, whose activities are being monitored by the central investigating agencies. He was let off in the evening after being questioned for several hours. Earlier, in March, the CBI had conducted search at the MP’s residence.