Chit Fund Scam: Senior Journalist To Be Produced In Bhubaneswar Court Today

Bhubaneswar: Senior journalist Suman Chattopadhyay, who was arrested by the CBI for his alleged complicity in the I-Core Group chit fund scam case on Thursday, will be produced before the Special Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) Court here on Friday.

Chattopadhyay is the editor of leading Bengali daily Ei Samay. He was previously the director of Disha Production and Media Private Limited (DPMPL).

According to sources, funds collected illegally by I-Core Group, a Ponzi firm, were allegedly diverted to the accounts of DPMPL and that of Chattopadhyay’s.

The I-Core Group had allegedly raised over Rs 3,000 crore from people by offering high returns on investments.

The senior journalist was summoned to the CBI office in Kolkata on Thursday and place under arrest after several rounds of questioning. He is being brought to Bhubaneswar by a team of Kolkata CBI officials via road, the sources further said.

The CBI is likely to request the court to take Chattopadhyay on remand to elicit more information about the fraud and involvement of other influential people.

In 2017, the journalist and his wife Kasturi were grilled by the CBI as well as the Enforcement Directorate in the Saradha Group of Companies chit fund fraud. He had allegedly taken “unsecured loans” from three “chit fund companies”, including Saradha Group, and laundered it through two of his publishing companies, a Bengali daily and a Bengali magazine.

Managing director of I-Core group Anukul Maiti and his wife Kanika were arrested by the agency last year.