In a significant development in the restitution process for victims of the Rose Valley Ponzi scam, Union Minister of State for Finance Shri Pankaj Chaudhary handed over a Demand Draft of Rs 515.31 crore to Justice DK Seth (Retd.), Chairman of the Asset Disposal Committee (ADC), marking a major step towards compensating the nearly 7.5 lakh investors defrauded by the Rose Valley Group. This financial restitution is part of the ongoing efforts to return the funds collected through fraudulent means by the Rose Valley Group, one of the largest Ponzi schemes in India’s history.
The funds transferred to the ADC are the result of an extensive investigation conducted by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) between 2015 and 2017. The ED traced the money trail across nearly 3,000 bank accounts used to divert funds from innocent investors. After freezing these accounts, the ED converted the seized proceeds into over 700 fixed deposits, following confirmation from the Adjudicating Authority under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). This action aligns with the government's broader efforts to ensure that the assets seized from fraudulent entities are returned to the rightful owners, in line with the Prime Minister's commitment to ensuring that money looted from the poor is restored to them.
The Rose Valley scam involved the defrauding of investors, particularly from economically disadvantaged sections of society, by offering high returns on land parcels, hotel time-shares, and other schemes. The total amount collected by the Rose Valley Group through these fraudulent activities was approximately Rs 17,520 crore. Out of this, around Rs 6,666 crore remains unpaid to investors and is classified as proceeds of crime. The restitution efforts, which began with an earlier installment of Rs 22 crore being returned to 32,319 investors, have now reached a total of over Rs 537 crore.
Justice DK Seth’s committee, which oversees the restitution process, was constituted by the Calcutta High Court, with the ED and other authorities as its members. The committee has so far received around 31 lakh claims through its official website, and the process of verifying these claims and disbursing funds to rightful investors is ongoing. The government has made it clear that they are committed to returning the looted money to the victims of such scams, and this recent handover is a significant step in fulfilling that promise.
The ED has also attached additional assets worth Rs 1,172 crore, including movable and immovable properties, which are currently being liquidated. The market value of these assets is estimated to be over Rs 2,000 crore. The agency is investigating five PMLA cases against the Rose Valley Group in several states, including West Bengal, Odisha, Assam, and Tripura, and has filed prosecution complaints in special PMLA courts for each case.
The Rose Valley Ponzi scheme remains one of the largest investigations of its kind undertaken by the ED. The Special Court (PMLA) at Khurda, Bhubaneswar, recently passed an order facilitating the nationwide restitution of funds through the ADC, further accelerating the efforts to return the defrauded money to the victims. The ED’s ongoing investigation and asset liquidation process aim to ensure that all the proceeds of crime are accounted for and used to compensate those who were cheated by the Rose Valley Group.
