Saradha CMD jailed for 3 years

A Kolkata court on Friday sentenced Saradha Group Chairman-Managing Director (CMD) Sudipto Sen to three years of rigorous imprisonment for defaulting on payment of provident fund (PF) dues of employees in his media group.

This is Sen’s first conviction in a series of cases involving a multi-crore chit-fund scam. The Bidhannagar sub-divisional magistrate’s court also imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on Sen, directing that if he defaults, he will have to serve a prison term of another six months. Sen, along with several of the Saradha Group’s directors and senior officials, have been arrested since April 2013 from parts of northern India for running Ponzi scheme through various companies under the banner of the Saradha Group. Those arrested also include Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha member Kunal Ghosh, who was in charge of the group’s media ventures.

According to sources, Sen was convicted on Friday for criminal breach of trust under Section 406 after he defaulted on depositing the PF dues of employees, a fact he confessed to in court. He was also sentenced to three year’s imprisonment for “conspiracy” under Section 120B of the Indian Penal Code in connection with the PF default. 

The Saradha Group CMD faces more than 500 cases in different parts of West Bengal, all lodged by depositors who have been duped.