Chit-fund entity Chairman lands in ED net in Kolkata

Kolkata, Aug 26 (IANS) The Enforcement Directorate (ED) said on Saturday that it recently arrested Manoranjan Roy, Chairman of chit-fund entity Pincon Group.

Roy has been arrested on charges of misappropriation of funds collected from several investors as deposits under various multi-level marketing schemes of the Ponzi entity. He has been remanded to judicial custody till September 4.

“The ED investigation revealed that Pincon group of companies controlled by Roy and his associates collected money from people through fraudulent representations, luring innocent public with high rate of interest upon maturity of deposits collected under different schemes like MIS, FD and RD.

"However, they failed to pay the investors their dues after maturity and thereby cheated them. In total, Pincon Group collected Rs 638 crore (approx) from the public in the names of the above fraudulent schemes,” a statement issued by the ED read.

To recall, in July this year, the ED had arrested Kolkata-based businessman and CEO of a popular Bengali news channel, Kaustuv Roy, known for his close association with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, on charges of financial defulcation.

The ED got definite clues about Kaustuv Roy’s involvement in the affairs of Pincon Group.

In August last year, two teams of ED and the Income Tax Department had conducted simultaneous raids at the residence and offices of Kaustuv Roy. At that point of time, the Chief Minister had described the agency actions as a ploy by the BJP and the Union government to gag the media.

Kaustuv Roy, a Kolkata-based businessman, had been involved in multiple sectors like computers, software and media.

In March 2018, he, as the Director of RP Infosystems, was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in connection with a Rs 515 crore bank fraud scam involving a consortium of banks, including the Punjab National Bank and Canara Bank.

In September 2021, a Bengali channel owned by Kaustuv Roy received a caution of cancellation of licence from the Union Ministry of Information & Broadcasting citing the Ministry of Home Affair's denial of "security clearance".