CBI arrests TMC leader Pranab Chatterjee in Rs 3.74 crore chit fund scam

The TMC leader was held for allegedly siphoning off money from a trust running the scheme

The CBI arrested TMC leader and chairman of Burdwan Municipality in West Bengal, Pranab Chatterjee for allegedly siphoning off Rs 3.74 crore from a trust running a chit fund scheme, officials said on Friday.

The alleged role of Chatterjee, not named in the FIR, had surfaced during the three year long probe against chit fund schemes allegedly run by Sunmarg Welfare Organisation, they said.

Chatterjee was arrested on Friday and was produced before the competent court in Asansol which sent him to two days CBI custody.

During the probe, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) found that Chatterjee was closely associated with the trust Sunmarg Welfare Organisation and the trustees, officials said.

Chatterjee was allegedly associated in registration of the trust and allowed the trust to carry on its business of illegal deposit collection from his commercial complex.

"It was also alleged during the investigation that the accused (Chatterjee) in conspiracy with the other accused (trustees) had misappropriated Rs.3.74 crore from the trust for personal use through various methods," CBI spokesperson R C Joshi said.

In its FIR, the CBI alleged that the accused Soumyarup Bhowmik, chairman of Sunmarg Welfare Organisation, and others allured the public at large to invest in their schemes with a promise of high rate of returns at maturity without the requisite permission from the regulatory authorities.

"It was further alleged that large number of investors invested their hard earned money with the Trust. It was also alleged that the trustees failed to repay the maturity amount, cheated the investors, misappropriated their hard-earned money, closed down the branches and fled away," the CBI spokesperson said.

The CBI had taken over the probe into the chit fund fraud cases in West Bengal and Odisha on the directions of the Supreme Court on May 9, 2014.