KOLKATA: The head of a savings company suspected of running a giant Ponzi scheme that could have defrauded up to 100,000 people appeared before a court in Kolkata yesterday.
Saradha group chairman Sudipta Sen and his two close aides have been “charged with criminal breaches of trust, conspiracy and cheating”, local police chief Rajeev Kumar said.
Hundreds of placard-carrying protesters who lost their savings with Saradha staged an angry demonstration and attempted to enter the courtroom, as several policemen used batons to push them back.
The collapse of the savings schemes which offered massive returns of 40 percent and more has triggered protests in West Bengal state in eastern India and three investors have committed suicide.
A Ponzi scheme is a fraudulent investment operation that pays out returns to investors based on inflows of money put in by other savers, and is liable to collapse if receipts dry up.
Sen fled to Kashmir, where police arrested him on Monday.
The businessman and his aides “were remanded to 14 days in police custody”, government lawyer Asoke Banerjee said after yesterday’s hearing.
West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday announced a Rs5bn fund to compensate investors.
AFP
