Indian Government to Reimburse 'Rose Valley' Ponzi Scam Victims

On Saturday, the Government of India handed over Rs. 5.15 billion to the Asset Disposal Committee and planned to return the funds to the victims of the ‘Rose Valley’ Ponzi scam.

So far, the Asset Disposal Committee (ADC), appointed by the Calcutta high court, has registered about 3.1 million claims and has been restored to 32,319 investors.

Lok Sabha MP Pankaj Chaudhary presented a cheque to the committee chairman, representing the value of assets confiscated by the Enforcement Directorate of India (ED). And the Rs 2,000 crore assets seized are being liquidated and will be returned to the victims who are in difficult financial situations.

Rose Valley Ponzi scheme in the Indian state of West Bengal caused severe financial losses to hundreds of thousands of victims. The Rose Valley group lured investors into bogus investment schemes with promises of high profits, and also used new customers' money to pay “returns” to previous clients, creating the illusion of profitability.

The fraud group is said to have swindled about Rs 17,500 crore from investors and left Rs 67 crore unpaid. Investigations revealed that all these funds went into the pockets of the fraudsters or were used to invest in their private assets.

Rahul Navin, the Director of the Indian Enforcement Directorate (ED), was present at the cheque handing over ceremony along with other senior officials of the agency. The agency stated, “This is one of the single largest investigations of this type undertaken by ED, and an order passed by special court (PMLA) at Khurda, Bhubaneswar, on March 29 has paved the way for the return of investors' money all over the country through ADC.”

The commission will review and validate more details of the claims and the return of funds is expected to take place in the next few months.