Saradha scam: CBI arrests top official of East Bengal club

CBI on Wednesday arrested an official of East Bengal football club Debabrata Sarkar in connection with Saradha chit fund scam in which deposits of thousands of investors were allegedly swindled by ponzi companies. CBI sources said Sarkar was allegedly the middleman between the Saradha group and regulatory bodies like SEBI. He was arrested in Kolkata, they said. The CBI had earlier taken into custody six people in connection with the scam.

The sources said Sarkar is accused of conspiring with Saradha top brass in the alleged misappropriation of funds of the company. The agency had recently carried out searches at his residence from where it recovered incriminating documents and Fixed Deposit Receipts worth Rs 25 lakh, the sources said. There are four FIRs against Saradha Group in which it is alleged that thousands of investors were allegedly duped by the company officials and their associates who swindled their deposits. Besides, there are 44 FIRs in Odisha against ponzi companies.

The Supreme court had handed over the Saradha chit fund scam probe to CBI and asked the state governments to provide all logistical help to the CBI team investigating the matter.
CBI has formed a Special Investigating Team (SIT) headed by Joint Director Rajeev Singh to also probe the role of Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and RBI. "Investigation conducted so far puts a question mark on the role of regulatory authorities like SEBI, Registrar of Companies and officials of RBI within whose respective jurisdictions and areas of operation the scam not only took birth but flourished unhindered," an apex court bench headed by Justice T S Thakur had said in its order.