Chit fund scam: CBI books 25 people

IN A chit fund scam that could be bigger than Saradha, the CBI has registered four FIRs and charged 25 people for allegedly defrauding investors of over Rs 25,000 crore in Jharkhand. The FIRs have been registered on the directions of the Jharkhand High Court. The agency has re-registered the FIRs, first lodged by local police, pertaining to chit fund companies — DJN group of companies, Gurukul group of companies, Shashank Industries Corporation and Star Finance company.

A total of 25 people have been booked in these four cases, according to the FIRs. These cases were investigated by the Jharkhand police so far. “It is submitted by the Additional Advocate General that a detailed counter-affidavit has been filed on behalf of the respondent, who has brought on record several facts, including the amount involved in one company being approximately of Rs 1,600 crore and total figure may even cross Rs 25,000 crore,” the order of the High Court said.

The court was given a list of 27 chit fund companies operating in Jharkhand, which were under the scanner of the police.