ED raids 3 showrooms of Adrija Jewellers

Kolkata: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday conducted a raid at three showrooms of Adrija Jewellers in connection with the Rose Valley chit fund scam.

As per sources in ED, the Adrija Gold Corporation had allegedly obtained long term loans from various Rose Valley Group firms owned by chit fund scam-accused Gautam Kundu. The raid was conducted at the showrooms located at Howrah, Baguihati and Rashbehari areas in the city.

ED sleuths believe that the Gold Corporation is one of the channels through which funds were routed from Rose Valley group's main firms. During the raid, some incriminating documents and money was seized by ED officers.

It may be mentioned that ED in July had attached assets in the form of hotels, vehicles, land and cash worth more than Rs 300 crore in connection with the Rose Valley Group of companies and its chairman Kundu in the probe under the Money Laundering Act.

The investigation by the agency revealed that the Kolkata-based firm had collected more than Rs 17,000 crore from the public at large throughout India by luring depositors with false promise of high return/interest on their deposits.

"Around Rs 8,600 crore remains outstanding to the public by the company," a senior ED official said.

ED, during the investigation, had earlier identified and attached properties having a market value of around Rs 1,650 crore. The total value of Rose Valley property attached by ED sleuths presently stands at around Rs 1,950 crore, including 12 high-end cars of the Rose Valley chief.

It may be noted that under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the agency had registered an FIR against the company and its chairman in 2014. Kundu was arrested by the agency in March 2015 and is still in judicial custody.