The Rose Valley financial scandal, or Rose Valley chit fund scam, is a major

financial fraud In law, fraud is intentional deception to deprive a victim of a legal right or to gain from a victim unlawfully or unfairly. Fraud can violate civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrator to avoid the fraud or recover mone ...

and alleged

political scandal In politics, a political scandal is an action or event regarded as morally or legally wrong and causing general public outrage. Politicians, government officials, Political party, party officials and Lobbying, lobbyists can be accused of various ...

that came to light in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

in the early 2010s. The scandal involves the Rose Valley Group, a conglomerate that allegedly ran unauthorized collective investment schemes and Ponzi operations, collecting over ₹15,000 crore from millions of depositors across eastern India.

Origins and operations

The Rose Valley Group was founded by Kajal Kundu in 1997 and later led by his brother Gautam Kundu, who expanded the group's businesses into real estate, tourism, hospitality, media, and entertainment. Despite offering unusually high returns to depositors, the company was not registered with the

Reserve Bank of India Reserve Bank of India, abbreviated as RBI, is the central bank of the Republic of India, and regulatory body responsible for regulation of the Indian banking system and Indian rupee, Indian currency. Owned by the Ministry of Finance (India), Min ...

or authorized to run financial deposit schemes. The

Securities and Exchange Board of India The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) is the Regulatory agency, regulatory body for securities and commodity market in India under the administrative domain of Ministry of Finance (India), Ministry of Finance within the Government ...

(SEBI) declared many of Rose Valley's schemes to be illegal and unregistered collective investment schemes.

Investigation

In 2015, the

Enforcement Directorate The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is a law enforcement and economic intelligence agency of the Government of India. Established on 1 May 1956, it is responsible for enforcing economic laws and combating financial crimes. The ED operates under th ...

(ED) arrested Gautam Kundu under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, alleging he operated one of the biggest Ponzi scams in India. The group had over 3,000 bank accounts and assets across 12 Indian states. Investigators estimate the total fraud exceeded ₹15,400 crore.

Asset seizures

In 2018, ED attached assets worth over ₹4,200 crore, including hotels, land, luxury vehicles, and other properties. In August 2024, the ED facilitated the restitution of ₹19.40 crore to defrauded investors after approval from a special PMLA court.

Political involvement

The scam also had political ramifications. Several leaders of the

All India Trinamool Congress The All India Trinamool Congress (; AITC), simply known as Trinamool Congress, is an Indian political party that is mainly influential in the state of West Bengal. It was founded by Mamata Banerjee on 1 January 1998 as a breakaway faction f ...

were questioned or arrested for alleged links to the group.

Sudip Bandyopadhyay

In January 2017, Trinamool Congress MP

Sudip Bandyopadhyay Sudip Bandyopadhyay (born 6 January 1949) is an Indian politician and a Member of Parliament. Sudip Bandyopadhyay has been a member of the Lok Sabha for five terms, serving in the 12th, 13th, 15th, 16th, 17th, 18th Lok Sabhas. He represent ...

was arrested by the

Central Bureau of Investigation The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is the domestic crime investigating agency of India. It operates under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions. Originally set up to investigate bribery and gover ...

(CBI) for allegedly promoting Rose Valley schemes and benefiting financially.

Tapas Paul

Actor and Trinamool MP

Tapas Paul Tapas Paul (29 September 1958 – 18 February 2020) was an Indian actor and politician. One of the most celebrated actors of Bengali cinema, Paul is best known for his on-screen roles opposite Mahua Roy Choudhury and Debashree Roy. He recei ...

was a director in Rose Valley's media wing and was also arrested in relation to the scam.

Role of the film industry

In 2019, CBI arrested producer

Shrikant Mohta SVF Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. is an Indian film production and distribution company, founded by Shrikant Mohta and Mahendra Soni in 1995. Apart from producing and distributing Bengali films in West Bengal, Bangladesh, Assam and Tripura, SVF als ...

of SVF Entertainment for allegedly being a conduit in the operation by defrauding Rose Valley's Brand Value Communication of ₹24 crore under the guise of film distribution agreements.

Related companies

The Rose Valley Group operated through several subsidiaries and associated companies, many of which were later described as shell companies. In 2013, the Indian government was investigating over 150 companies for financial irregularities, including Rose Valley entities.

References

External links

Enforcement Directorate

Central Bureau of Investigation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rose Valley Scam 21st-century scandals Pyramid and Ponzi schemes Corporate scandals Financial scandals Political scandals in India 2016 scandals 2014 scandals Crime in West Bengal Crime in Odisha Crime in Assam Confidence tricks