Tripura begins asset auctions in Rs 14,000-Cr chit fund scam, eyes investor relief

Agartala, April 22: The Tripura government has officially initiated the auction of properties owned by fraudulent chit fund companies in a bid to recover embezzled investor money.

Finance Minister Pranajit Singha Roy, on Tuesday, announced that, acting on directions from the Centre, the state has begun auctioning assets seized from companies involved in large-scale Ponzi schemes that operated during the Left Front regime.

"The recovered funds will be used to partially repay defrauded investors,” Roy said.

He further informed that in the first phase, we’re auctioning properties belonging to the Waris Group. “A large portion has already been sold, and the remaining will be auctioned soon," he added.

The Finance Minister added that payouts to investors will be made on a proportional basis, following guidelines issued by the central government.

Regarding the high-profile Rose Valley Group, the minister confirmed that asset details have been submitted to the Centre, but auction approval is still awaited. “Once clearance is granted, we will initiate similar proceedings,” he said.

An estimated ₹14,000 crore was siphoned off in the state’s chit fund scam, impacting thousands of investors.

Several cases related to the scam are pending in Tripura courts, many of which have ruled in favour of the affected investors.

The companies had lured people with promises of high returns through various investment schemes, but were later found to be running unregistered collective investment operations without the required approval from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).

After the scam came to light, many of these companies shut down operations in Tripura and fled the state as investigations began.