Rose Valley offices in Bengal continue to operate despite the chairman being held in Ponzi scam

Rose Valley chairman Gautam Kundu may be inside a prison in Kolkata, but the company's offices are fully operational. And it seems that the agents of the company are trying to put up a brave face despite the odds.

These agents - the main operatives in the group's questionable deposit collection business - are still trying to assure the investors across West Bengal that everything is fine and their money is safe.

Their assurance belies the reality that the Enforcement Directorate( ED) has charged Kundu of unscrupulously mopping up about Rs 15,000 crore from unsuspecting investors in the state and beyond.

Rose Valley's manager-operations Tapan Biswas said, "All our deposit collection offices are open not only across West Bengal but also across the country. We are providing all the facilities to our investors. It is just that the repayment time, which was earlier 45 days, has now got extended to 4-5 months. But it's a fact that the Saradha scam has impacted the reputation of Rose Valley as well."

MAIL TODAY found that the company's offices in Burdwan were functioning normally. Rose Valley's Burdwan branch manager Pintu Sinha said the investors have faith in the company.

"They believe that whatever may be the problem, it will get solved and they will get back their money. We have kept our offices open even on holidays to boost the investors' confidence," Sinha told MAIL TODAY.

One investor, Bikash Roy, said: "I have my money with Rose Valley for the last six years. I have faith in them. In the past I had received my money back. I am certain that I will get back my money in the future as well. This group is not like Saradha." Rose Valley agent Surojit Goswami said that the company will not dupe the investors.

"We want investors to get their money back. We know that if we fail to return the money, the investors will come for us", he said.

Rose Valley chairman himself wants an investigation into all the allegations. If he had done anything wrong then he wouldn't have sought the investigation," Goswami told MAIL TODAY. Company's adviser in Burdwan, Musil Ali, said that after the Saradha scam got exposed, Rose Valley tried its best to allay fears of the investors.

"We don't have any provision of premature withdrawal of invested money. Still, whenever investors demanded, we gave back their money. So far we have given back few hundreds of crores to investors to boost their confidence," Ali told MAIL TODAY.

Rose Valley chairman Kundu was arrested by the ED on March 25. But the company has been on the radar of authorities for quite a long time. It was in 2010 that the alarm bells were first sounded about the way. Later, the Sebi too initiated an inquiry into the way the company raised money by issuing secured debentures.

(In association with Mail Today Bureau)