Bhubaneswar: Shocking but true. Two Trinamool Congress (TMC) MPs—Tapas Paul and Sudip Bandopadhyay enjoyed a lavish lifestyle from the money amassed through ‘illegal’ means via Rose Valley Group chit fund scam in West Bengal and Odisha. This was the finding basing on which the CBI has filed charge sheet, official sources said.
From travelling in luxurious cars to foreign tours, the TMC MPs were getting all benefits from the Rose Valley Group as per the chargesheet filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
The CBI chargesheet has exposed the nexus of TMC MPs in assisting the Rose Valley Group to expand its base and subsequently duping gullible investors in both the states.
As per the CBI chargesheet, M/s Rose Valley Real Estate & Constructions Limited and M/s Rose Valley Hotels and Entertainments Limited illegally operated money collection business without approval from any regulator in India.
Apart from being MP from Krishananagar constituency, Tapas Paul, was a noted film actor and did a number of regional Bengali and Odia feature films. This helped him to influence the society and public at large in both the states.
Tapas Paul had close connection with Gautam Kundu, the main promoter and director of Rose Valley Group and the former with conscious knowledge aided the promotion of illegal money collection business of Rose Valley group and he also gained wrongfully, the findings further state.
Tapas Paul was director of two companies of Rose Valley Group -- Rose Valley Chain Marketing Systems, which later changed to Rose Valley Marketing India and Idea Projects Limited on 08. 03.2010 and 16.02 .2010 respectively.
Tapas was taking a salary of Rs 1 lakh per month as director of the companies besides the CBI investigation has found concrete evidences against him of taking Rs 26 lakh from the company on other occasions.
TMC MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay on the other hand too had entered into criminal conspiracy with Gautam Kundu in promoting the illegal money business of Rose Valley Group and got financially benefited from the company.
Bandopadhyay was elected as MLA of State Assembly of West Bengal in 1991 and is MP since 1998. He was inducted as Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare between 13.07.2011 and 22.09.2012.
As per the investigations, Bandyopadhyay had attended at least two business development meetings of Rose Valley Group in the year 2011 and 2012 at Netaji Indoor Stadium, Kolkata even though he was holding the post of union minister of state.
The formal name of these two functions was Late Kajal Kundu Memorial Competition. However, informally same were the annual functions of ROSE valley group.
Bandyopadhyay visited Europe with his wife Nayana Bandopadhyay while all the expenses were paid to a Kolkata based tour operator by Rose Valley Group.
In another development the process of identification of investors duped by Rose Valley Group has started at Roukela from today.