RETURNING THE BOOTY

THE ENFORCEMENT DIRECTORATE HAS MADE RESTITUTION A PRIORITY, AGGRESSIVELY TRACING ILLICIT FUNDS, MONETISING SEIZED ASSETS AND ENSURING THAT VICTIMS OF FINANCIAL FRAUD RECEIVE THEIR RIGHTFUL DUES

- By Munish Pandey

For 57-year-old Somnath Chakraborty, employee of a private sector company in Kolkata, the promise of annual returns of more than 12 per cent enticed him to invest nearly Rs 2 lakh in a chit fund scheme floated by the Rose Valley Group in 2010. Like him, some three million small investors poured their hard-earned savings into the scheme, before the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) launched an inquiry and declared it fraudulent in 2015. The Directorate of Enforcement (ED), the central agency responsible for investigating money laundering and terror financing, also stepped in.

For years, Chakraborty bore the weight of that loss with no hope of compensation. That changed six months ago, when he learned that the ED was returning money to those who had invested in Rose Valley. He, too, put in an application on their website. To his surprise, he received Rs 27,000 against his investments this January. "I never thought I'd see even a single paisa again," he admits, his voice a mixture of relief and regret. "I am grateful to ED for whatever I have received, but I still hope the full principal amount is returned."

For the ED, this is just the beginning. It has pledged to return all recovered funds worth Rs 6,600 crore to the 3.2 million investors who were cheated in the Rs 17,520 crore Rose Valley scam. By March-end, the agency is planning to return Rs 450 crore to 900,000 investors through its restitution programme. In recent months, the ED has made the restitution of seized and attached assets a top priority in its fight against money-laundering and financial fraud. “Over the past several years, the agency’s focus has been on a concerted effort to ensure that victims of financial crimes are duly compensated from the proceeds of crime seized by the ED, making significant strides in returning assets to their rightful owners,” says a high-ranking ED officer involved in the process.

A CONCERTED EFFORT