AGARTALA / KOLKATA, April 19 (TIWN): CBI interrogation of Rose Valley chief Goutam Kundu revealed Rose Valley's Tripura connections and patronizers of ruling CPI-M party and other political parties in Tripura. Arrested March 25 by the ED under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act for mobilising public money without proper sanction of the SEBI, Kundu was sent to judicial custody.The corporate affairs ministry in 2013 had named Rose Valley as one of the 73 companies involved in ponzi schemes in West Bengal. As per CBI source from Kolkata, CBI will be targeting Tripura leaders and Ministers in it 2nd round of raid which may happen anytime within next 2 to 3 weeks. Having cast its net across the states of Bengal, Tripura, Assam, Odisha, Jharkhand and Maharashtra among others, the company is alleged to have raised close to Rs.35,000 crore.ED already filed chargesheet before the city sessions court on April 6, under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act in pursuance of the a complaint from the Securities and Exchange Board of the India to the Enforcement Directorate.Found the company guilty of running "collective investment scheme" without necessary approvals, the SEBI in June 2014 had ordered it to refund the money to the investors and barred it barred from accessing the securities market.

Established in 1999 as a public limited company, the Rose Valley group is registered under the Companies Act, 1956. It has been operating in eastern and northeastern states of India and has business interests in hospitals, films, hotels, amusement parks, real estate and construction, industrial ventures besides collection of deposits.

It is also to be mentioned here that earlier, two persons Rose Valley Director Ashok Saha and Branch Manager Anupam Bhattacharjee were also arrested for collecting money without any valid permission from RBI or SEBI.

Rose Valley has been biggest chit fund operator in Tripura and has presence even in remote tribal areas. The company was first raided in 2011.

According to official figures, the Rose Valley had collected Rs 196 crore during the past three years, out of which an amount of Rs 86 crore has been returned on maturity and rest pockets by Rose Valley officials.