Ponzi’ firm directors held

KOLKAT: Transport minister Madan Mitra, who was ordered to be put under ‘house arrest’ by Calcutta high court on Thursday, got tangled into another Ponzi muddle after CBI arrested four directors of the ASSDA Group. Mitra, who had tried to distance himself from the firm earlier, was allegedly associated with it.
The central investigation agency on Thursday arrested four directors of the group, including Nabarun Dutta, Jasim Hossain, Jamir Hossain and Asgar Ali.The agency had raided 11 premises of the alleged Ponzi firm in May this year and interrogated two more directors of the group. These four directors allegedly raised money from the public illegally and misappropriated funds over the past few years. They will be produced in court on Friday.
The Panihati-based firm started operation in 2010 and spread its net gradually in adjoining areas like Belgharia, Khardaha, Sodepur and Madhyamgram. Mitra became an MLA from the area in 2011, while ASSDA Group was spreading its base. Mitra, who was also reportedly seen at several programmes organized by the group, was featured on the brochure of the Ponzi firm. In a photograph, Mitra was also seen to be attending a mass wedding, along with an ASSDA official, organized by the residents of Nandannagar.
Once the minister’s photograph with ASSDA directors was out, Mitra had filed an FIR against the company earlier this year through his lawyer Niladri Bhattacharya. In his complaint with Belghoria police, Mitra alleged that ASSDA Agro Projects forged some of his photographs to lure people. Moreover, Mitra said he was unaware that he was being photographed at the wedding reception, while one of the ASSDA official was present. He also claimed to be unaware that the company was raising money from the public. Investigators on the other hand found that all the seven major shareholders of the company lived in and around Agarpara and Belghoria, with its corporate office in Panihati.
“Mitra never knew anyone in the ASSDA. Neither did he meet any official of the company nor was he involved with them in any way. He has, instead, filed an FIR against the company once the photographs were noticed,” said Mitra’s lawyer Niladri Bhattacharya.
People close to Mitra claimed that since he was an elected representative of the area, it was easy to get him to attend local functions. But CBI officials have reasons to believe that ASSDA Group spent huge amounts during the 2011 assembly polls. Later, his photographs were used in the company brochures to convince people about his association. Meanwhile, another alleged Ponzi firm Icore Global Medicines, where Mitra’s eldest son Swarup was a director, is also under the scanner of the investigation agency. The company was incorporated on June 2, 2009. Swarup came on-board the next year. While Swarup had claimed that the directors of the Icore Group had forged his signature, investigators feel that the firm received patronage of Mitra.
RohitKhanna@timesgroup.com