Kolkata, April 27 (IANS) In the Rose Valley Group chit fund scam, the ED has so far returned Rs 127.69 crore to 1.73 lakh victims as of April 2026, an official said on Monday.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED), Kolkata Zonal Office, in coordination with the Asset Disposal Committee (ADC), has continued to play a pivotal role in the restitution process for victims of the Rose Valley Group scam, resulting in completion of 16 phases of fund disbursement, the ED said in a statement.

The ED is also investigating other chit fund scams in West Bengal and taking necessary legal steps for expeditious restitution of assets to innocent victims, it said.

The Rose Valley Group had fraudulently mobilised Rs 17,520 crore from investors across West Bengal, Assam, Odisha and other states by promising high returns, out of which Rs 6,666 crore remained unpaid to investors, the ED said.

Since the commencement of the investigation in 2014, the ED has taken sincere steps for tracing, attachment, seizure and safeguarding of assets of Rose Valley Group, said the statement.

So far, the ED has attached or seized movable and immovable properties having a book value of approximately Rs 1,568 crore spread across various states, including West Bengal, Odisha, Assam and Tripura, with the objective of securing maximum restitution to the affected victims, it said.

A major milestone in the restitution process was achieved on April 22, 2025, when the ED handed over a demand draft of Rs 517.54 crore to the ADC pursuant to orders obtained from the Special Court at Bhubaneswar, enabling restitution of attached Proceeds of Crime for the benefit of victims.

In a major development for the above cause, the ED and ADC have initiated automation of the claims and disbursement mechanism through artificial intelligence-based technology, for which approval of the High Court was obtained on March 31, 2026.

The ADC has entered into an arrangement with Stock Holding Document Management Services Limited, a government company, for revamping the refund portal so that KYC extraction and multistage matching of claims can be carried out in a time-bound and efficient manner. With the revamped system, the disbursement timeline is expected to be reduced significantly, the agency said.

The ED remains committed to assisting the ADC in securing, monetising and returning the Proceeds of Crime to the lawful claimants in a transparent and expeditious manner, said the statement.

–IANS

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