Saradha Case: ED Attaches Assets Worth Rs 6 Crore Of Chidambaram's Wife Nalini, Ex-CPM MLA, Others

Assets worth about Rs 600 crore have been attached by the Enforcement Directorate in his case so far.

Nalini Chidambaram, wife of former Union finance minister and Congress leader P Chidambaram

New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday attached assets worth over Rs 6 crore of Nalini Chidambaram, wife of former Union finance minister and Congress leader P Chidambaram, former CPM MLA Debendranath Biswas and a company owned by former Assam minister late Anjan Dutta in connection with the Saradha money laundering case, news agency PTI reported.

According to the report, a provisional order for attaching movable properties of Rs 3.30 crore and immovable assets worth Rs 3 crore has been issued under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the federal agency said in a statement.

These properties that have been attached by the ED were owned by the Saradha Group and other people, who were alleged beneficiaries of the "proceeds of crime" generated by the group, the agency said.

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The people who allegedly benefited include Nalini Chidambaram, Debabrata Sarkar (East Bengal Club official), Debendranath Biswas (former IPS officer and ex-CPM MLA) and Anubhuti Printers and Publications owned by Dutta, a former Assam cabinet minister and president of state Congress party.

It is to be noted that the money laundering case pertains to an alleged chit fund scam, that was perpetrated by the Saradha Group in West Bengal, Assam and Odisha till 2013.

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"The quantum of total money mobilised by this group company is about Rs 2,459 crore out of which nearly Rs 1,983 crore remains unpaid to the depositors till date excluding the interest amount," the ED said in a statement.

Notably, assets worth about Rs 600 crore have been attached by the Enforcement Directorate in his case so far.

Earlier last year, ED froze two bank accounts of Rajat Majumdar, the retired director general of the West Bengal Police who later became the vice-chairman of the Saradha Group. In September 2014, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had arrested Majumdar in connection with the agency's ongoing probe into the Rs 2,000 crore Saradha case.