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Rose Valley Scam: 5 facts about the actors’ nexus

  • The Rose Valley Scam came to light in 2013-14. 
  • Recently, two Trinamool Congress MPs were arrested in connection with the scam.
  • One of the MP, Tapas Pal, is a veteran actor. 
actors involved in Rose Valley Scam

 

Since 2013-14, the Rose Valley scam in West Bengal has been making a lot of noise in the national media. The recent arrests of two Trinamool Congress MPs, veteran actor and politician Tapas Pal and Sudip Bandyopadhyay has again drawn national attention to this scam that rocked the state of West Bengal.

 

Briefly, the scam is, in 2010, Rose Valley Hotels and Entertainment Ltd (RVHEL) launched a Rose Valley Holiday Membership Plan. Under this plan, investors were allowed to book holiday package by making payment through monthly instalments. Once the scheme tenure is over or upon maturity, investors could go for the holiday and avail accommodation and services in one of Rose Valley hotels and resorts. Also, the company claimed to offer 11.2% to 17.65% interest rate on the investments. 

 

After receiving complaints from various authorities, SEBI did a crackdown on Rose Valley and in 2013-14 the market regulating authority declared that this scheme was ‘collective investment schemes' that failed to register itself with the regulator. The authority then instructed the company to shut the scheme and return the investors’ money. 

 

Soon after, Supreme Court ordered a probe and this company came under the scanner of Enforcement Directorate (ED) and CBI. The ongoing investigation revealed that Rose Valley scam is a ₹17,000 crore scam that duped many small investors. 

 

The main accused of this scam is Gautam Kundu and three others. But, with the recent arrest of two TMC MPs has exposed the political, Tollywood nexus in this scam. Allegedly, once Sudip Bandyopadhyay was a director of a company owned by Rose Valley and the other MP and actor, Tapas Pal, along with his wife were also members of Rose Valley’s board of directors. 

 

At one point in time, Rose Valley also produced many Bengali movies starring many reputed and popular actors and actresses leading to various questions regarding their involvement in the scam. The CBI investigation is still underway, and many actors apart from politicians are under the scanner. 

 

Here are 10 shocking facts about actors’ nexus in the Rose Valley Scam:

 

1. Tapas Pal is one of the most popular actors in West Bengal film industry, and according to a national daily report, in 2010 he wrote a letter to Pranab Mukherjee, the then Finance Minister, informing him about the growing ponzi scams in the state of West Bengal. But, this letter had no mention of the Rose Valley scam.

 

2. Another report quoted sources close to CBI as saying that a popular Bengali actress helped to enable transactions worth ₹350 crore through hawala channel for the Rose Valley. She allegedly also accompanied the main accused in many foreign trips to facilitate the illegal transactions. 

 

3. Soon after Tapas Pal’s arrest, three more actors were reported to have been involved in this scam. CBI has not disclosed the name of these actors, but they are supposedly close associates of Pal. According to CBI, these three actors allowed the main accused Gautam Kundu to use their bank accounts to launder the black money. 

 

4. Former singer, actor and current Union Minister Babul Supriyo was named by Tapas Pal while talking to reporters before he was taken away by the CBI. It has been claimed that Supriyo was close to Gautam Kundu, and Pal accused the Union Minister of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises for tricking him into the scam.

 

5. A report claimed that a national award winning actress will also be questioned by the CBI in connection with the Rose Valley scam. The name has not been revealed by CBI. 

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