State probes Rs 1k-crore chit fund scam, Bhupesh Baghel says victims refunded Rs 30 crore

On Monday, Sahu was among several victims of the multi-crore fraud who got their money back — during a virtual meeting, Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel announced a return of Rs 2.56 crore.

In all, Baghel said, Rs 30 crore has been returned to 37,325 victims so far.

According to the state government’s estimates, 2.70 lakh people invested Rs 1,105 crore in chit funds between 2009 and 2017 — companies that promised to double investments in five years, in what turned out to be fraudulent claims.

State government officials said Chhattisgarh is perhaps the first state which is returning money to chit fund fraud victims this way.

“Many of these companies were registered with the Registrar of Companies but even those which were registered were (found) flouting rules,” a state police officer said. “They misappropriated money collected and were unable to return the hefty interest — or even the principal. It is our priority to recover as much money as possible.”

On Wednesday, Sahu told The Indian Express, “I had to borrow money for my daughter’s education, who is a nursing student. But I have now got the entire amount, and I am thankful to the government…. I have lost a further Rs 2 lakh in another chit fund company and have requested the government to help me get a refund.”

Teejan Nishad, 48, a homemaker from Khursipar in Durg district, said she told Baghel during the virtual meet that she has got Rs 3 lakh back and can now get her children married. Teejan said, “I worked as an agent (for a chit fund firm) and four or five people had invested through me. Luckily the amount was not big but I faced a backlash in our locality…”

Rajnandgaon-based Kunjulal Devangan, who runs a marketing business and invested Rs 2.27 lakh, however, is yet to get his money.

Cases have been registered against 208 irregular financial (chit fund) firms, 536 directors and 119 officials of such firms. In all, 655 accused have been arrested.

A political war of words has, meanwhile, begun between ruling Congress and opposition BJP in Chhattisgarh.

The Congress alleged the fraud took place during the previous government under BJP; that top state BJP leaders, including then ministers, “campaigned for these companies”; and that real efforts to give the victims justice, and return their money, began only after it formed the government in 2018.

The BJP rubbished the allegations and pointed out that the process of taking action began in 2015. Former BJP MPs Madhusudan Yadav and Abhishek Singh, who is former CM Raman Singh’s son, and former former Rajnandgaon mayor Naresh Dakaliya were booked in three FIRs in 2019-20 and chargesheeted in all three for “campaigning for one of the companies”, a police officer from Rajnandgaon said.

Calling it a “politically motivated case”, Singh told The Indian Express, “They (police) could not prove anything against me.”

An officer from Surguja district, where another FIR was registered against Singh for allegedly campaigning for a chit fund firm, said, “Singh got a stay from High Court on his arrest and was never arrested in any of these cases.”

State Congress spokesperson R P Singh said, “BJP leaders campaigned for the chit fund companies and did not take action when the directors ran off. CM Baghel wrote to the ED to investigate the money laundering (angle) but no action was taken on this.”

Denying the allegations, BJP spokesperson Kedar Gupta said, “Irregularities of these companies did not come to the fore but when complaints were received, crackdown began in 2015. But our government did not return in 2018.”