CBI probing ponzi schemes involving Rs 85,000 crore from six crore investors, tells Director

Revealing astonishing figures on chit-funds or ponzi schemes, CBI director Anil Sinha, on Friday, said the investigating agency is probing cases of ponzi schemes in which over Rs 85,000 crore of over six crore investors are involved and it is assisting the Centre inframing a legislation to put a ban on such deposit-taking activities.

CBI alone is investigating cases in which more than six crore investors/victims spread across 26 states involving Rs 85,000 crores of public money. There are hundreds of criminal cases with state police and EOWs," he said at the valedictory session of 22nd Conference of CBI and Anti-Corruption Bureaus of states.

He also said the scope and reach of these fraudulent entities coming out with nefarious schemes to induce gullible public to invest in their dubious schemes is bewildering. Earlier, during a conference in Mumbai in March, Sinha had said that the agency was investigating Ponzi schemes involving funds of over Rs 1.20 lakh crore.

Officials in CBI claimed that figures often change because of allegations and later its cross verifications during the investigations. Sinha said CBI was part of the sub-group of an Inter-Ministerial Group for identifying gaps in the existing legaland regulatory framework for "deposit-taking" activities and to suggest administrative/legislative measures including formulation of a new law, to cover all relevant aspects ofdeposit-taking.

"As we are all aware, a comprehensive central law titled the 'Banning of Unregulated Deposit Schemes and Protection of Depositors' Interests Bill, 2016' is on the anvil," he said. The CBI chief said the government has announced in the 2016-17 budget that it proposes to bring in a comprehensive central legislation to deal with the menace of unauthorised deposit-taking scheme.

Sinha said the conference resolved that early enactment of the proposed central law which bans and criminalises all unregulated deposits with provisions for attachment and confiscation of proceeds of crime to refund the depositors will go a long way in curbing the menace.