saradha scam

The Saradha Group financial scandal was a major financial scam and alleged political scandal caused by the collapse of a Ponzi scheme run by Saradha Group, a consortium of over 200 private companies that was believed to be running collective investment schemes popularly but incorrectly referred to as chit funds.


The group collected around US $4–6 billion from over 1.7 million depositors before it collapsed in April 2013.

In the aftermath of the scandal, the State Government of West Bengal where the Saradha Group and most of its investors were based instituted an inquiry commission to investigate the collapse. The State government also set up a fund of US $74 million to ensure that low-income investors were not bankrupted.

The central government through the Income Tax Department and Enforcement Directorate launched a multi-agency probe to investigate the Saradha scam and similar Ponzi schemes.

In May 2014, the Supreme Court of India, inter-state ramifications, possible international money laundering, serious regulatory failures and alleged political nexus, transferred all investigations into the Saradha scam and other Ponzi schemes to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

Many prominent personalities were arrested for their involvement in the scam including two Members of Parliament (MP) - Kunal Ghosh and Srinjoy Bose, former West Bengal Director General of Police Rajat Majumdar, a top football club official Debabrata Sarkar, Sports and Transport minister in the – Madan Mitra.