On Wednesday, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrested senior journalist Suman Chattopadhyay for his alleged involvement in the I-Core Group chit fund scam case in West Bengal. A statement by the probe agency reads, “He was arrested in an ongoing investigation of a case registered against I-Core Group, a Ponzi scheme company.” The case against the group was registered in 2014.
Suman Chattopadhyay is the editor of leading Bengali daily Ei Samay. Previously, he was associated with Disha Production and Media Private Limited as director.
He was taken into custody after several rounds of questioning at the CGO complex in Kolkata. A lookout circular was also issued against Suman Chattopadhyay.
According to the Business Standard report, the investigation has revealed that funds collected illegally by the ICore Group amounting to Rs 30 billion were allegedly diverted in the accounts of Disha Productions and Media Private Limited (DPMPL) as well as in the personal account of Suman Chattopadhyay. It is also reported that the arrested journalist had allegedly taken “unsecured loans” from three “chit fund companies”, including Saradha Group, and laundered it through two of his publishing companies.
The managing director of ICore group, Anukul Maiti was also arrested by the West Bengal police in 2014 for allegedly running Ponzi scheme.
Earlier also, the Suman Chattopadhyay was questioned by the CBI as well as the Enforcement Directorate in connection with the Saradha financial scam.
According to the Business Standard report, Suman Chattopadhyay has been booked for alleged money laundering and round-tripping of funds which entails creating bogus companies and routing illegal money using multiple transactions across Indian shores.
It’s really disheartening to see that journalists who should act as responsible citizens and guardians of democracy are resorting to such practices. Saradha chit fund scam and rose valley scam remained under-reported allegedly because of nexus between notorious businessmen, morally corrupt journalists and politicians. The Saradha group has stakes in Media also. The closure of Saradha group-owned dailies has left 1,320-odd journalists jobless. The group used to run its two dallies- Bengal Post and Sakalbela. They hired journalists by offering them huge salaries while the hired journalist never bothered to know about the source of the funds, and ultimately paid the price of their ignorance by losing their jobs suddenly. It is reported that many journalists were involved in Saradha chit fund scam.
Radia Tapes is one more example in which many high profile journalists were found indulged in corrupt practices. Also, the journalists seem to have played a significant role in the AgustaWestland scam as Christian Michel allegedly spent around 48 crores for managing the Indian media. He paid the Indian media to write all good and positive things about AugustaWestland & its parent Finmeccanica during 2010-12.
For more details: Christian Michel and his ‘media management’
In recent time, it is seen that media and journalists are rapidly losing their credibility. A bulk of media’s fraternity in India does not seem to give heed to principles of journalism like social relevance, truthfulness, honesty, credibility, and pluralism.
