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The Saradha Group financial scandal ((ベンガル語:সারদা কেলেঙ্কারী)) was a major financial scam and alleged political scandal caused by the collapse of a Ponzi scheme run by Saradha Group, a consortium of over 200 private companies that was believed to be running collective investment schemes popularly but incorrectly referred to as chit funds. in Eastern India. The group collected around 200 to 300 billion (〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Cheat funds, again )〕) from over 1.7 million depositors before it collapsed in April 2013. In the aftermath of the scandal, the State Government of West Bengal where the Saradha Group and most of its investors were based instituted an inquiry commission to investigate the collapse. The State government also set up a fund of to ensure that low-income investors were not bankrupted.〔(Mamata sets up fund for duped Saradha investors, Business Standard, 24 April 2013 )〕 The central government through the Income Tax Department and Enforcement Directorate launched a multi-agency probe to investigate the Saradha scam and similar Ponzi schemes. In May 2014, the Supreme Court of India, citing inter-state ramifications, possible international money laundering, serious regulatory failures and alleged political nexus, transferred all investigations into the Saradha scam and other Ponzi schemes to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), India's federal investigative agency. Many prominent personalities were arrested for their involvement in the scam including two Members of Parliament (MP) - Kunal Ghosh and Srinjoy Bose, former West Bengal Director General of Police Rajat Majumdar, a top football club official Debabrata Sarkar, Sports and Transport minister in the West Bengal Government – Madan Mitra. ==Background == India has a large, low-income, rural population with limited access to formal banking facilities. A web of parallel, informal banking arose to fill the vacuum. At its centre were moneylenders, who used to charge exorbitant rates of interest. To curb this practice, several Moneylenders Acts were enacted by the State governments of India by the 1950s. However failure to replace the role of moneylenders gave rise to unscrupulous financial operators that operated Ponzi schemes. Some commentators place the blame for these kinds of Ponzi schemes on greed rather than exclusion from formal banking systems. The relatively prosperous rural economy of West Bengal had previously relied on small savings schemes run by the Indian Postal Service. However, low rates of interest in the 1980s and 1990s encouraged the rise of several Ponzi schemes in speculative ventures such as Sanchayita Investments, Overland Investment Company, Verona Credit and Commercial Investment Company. Together, these scams eliminated close to in investor wealth. Despite a history of Ponzi schemes, the continuing decline in interest rates, rapid financialisation of household savings, lack of financial literacy and investor awareness, political patronage, absence of adequate legal deterrence, and regulatory arbitrage encouraged the growth of similar companies. These companies either raised their funds through legitimate channels such as collective investment schemes, non-convertible debentures and preference shares, or illegitimately through hoax financial instruments such as teak bonds, potato bonds or fictitious ventures in agro-export, construction and manufacturing. , 80% of multi-level marketing and finance schemes against which complaints have been received are based in West Bengal, giving the state the title of "Ponzi capital of India". It is estimated that these Ponzi funds have amassed around from unsuspecting depositors in Eastern India. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Saradha Group financial scandal」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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