Bhubaneswar: A special court in Odisha has ordered the restoration of Rs 450 crore worth funds attached by the Enforcement Directorate in the multi-state chit fund scam allegedly perpetrated by the Rose Valley group of companies to the lawful claimants and investors.
The special PMLA court in Bhubaneswar has ordered the release of Rs 332.76 crore of proceeds of crime, whose present value is Rs 450 crore with interest, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) said in a statement.
The Rose Valley was led by its managing director Gautam Kundu.
The amount was attached by the ED and was held as a fixed deposit in various bank accounts.
The Rose Valley group of companies allegedly used to operate in the states of Odisha, West Bengal, Assam and Tripura.
The court of special judge CBI-I-cum-special judge under PMLA Bhubaneswar through an order dated March 7 allowed an application filed by the asset disposal committee (ADC) to release movable property under the possession of ED, Bhubaneswar, in favour of the committee for restitution of the same to the lawful investors all over the country.
The Calcutta High Court had constituted the ADC under the chairmanship of Justice Dillip Kr Seth (Retd) for restitution of properties to the lawful investors of the Rose Valley group of companies.
Till now, around 31 Lakh investors of Rose Valley have registered their claims on the website www.rosevalleyadc.com.
The ED is providing assistance to the ADC in conducting survey and valuation of the confirmed attached properties and facilitating expeditious monetisation of assets for timely disbursal of the same to the investors and victims of the alleged scam.
The restitution process is expected to continue over the coming months as more claims are being scrutinised and validated by the ADC.
The ADC has processed 32,319 claims, resulting in the disbursal of around Rs 22 crore of funds to the lawful investors.
The ED has also requested the investors of Rose Valley group who have not lodged their claims to do so immediately by logging on to www.rosevalleyadc.com and uploading details of the documents as required.
PTI
