Rose Valley ponzi sam: ED grills, records statement of KKR CEO

The Enforcement Directorate on Friday questioned the CEO of Indian Premier League team Kolkata Knight Riders in connection with its money laundering probe in the Rose Valley ponzi scam case, officials said.

They said Venky Mysore was grilled and his statement recorded under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in connection with some cricket match sponsorships with links to Rose Valley promoters and officials.

Mysore is the CEO of KKR IPL team and also of Red Chillies Entertainment.

He was questioned about the transactions he was allegedly involved in with regard to the Rose Valley group, officials said.

The ED had registered an FIR against the Rose Valley group, its chairman Gautam Kundu and others in 2014 under the PMLA. Kundu was arrested by the agency in Kolkata in 2015. Multiple charge sheets have been filed by the ED in courts in Kolkata and Bhubaneswar in this case.

The group had allegedly floated a total of 27 companies for running the alleged chit fund operations out of which only half-a-dozen were active.

The ED has alleged that the firm had floated a scheme promising inflated returns on investments between eight and 27 per cent to gullible investors in various states. It had allegedly pledged astronomical returns to depositors on land properties and assets and bookings done in the real estate sector.

The firm has also been accused of making "cross investments" in its various sister firms to suppress its liabilities towards investors.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) had probed the company before the ED and the CBI registered cases against the group. The ED has pegged the total volume of the alleged irregularities at Rs 15,000 crore, including interest and penalties.