Electoral bonds data: TMC got Rs 23 crore from 3 firms linked to ex-MP and Saradha accused

Electoral bonds data: TMC got Rs 23 crore from 3 firms linked to ex-MP and Saradha accused

THREE COMPANIES linked to the family of former TMC Rajya Sabha MP Srinjoy Bose, who was arrested by the CBI on charges linked to the Saradha chit fund case, donated Rs 23.30 crore in electoral bonds to the ruling party in West Bengal in 14 tranches of Rs 1-3 crore each beginning July 2021.

According to data released by the Election Commission last month and investigated by The Indian Express, these donations began soon after the TMC won the 2021 Assembly polls and formed the state government in May that year.

* Between July 2021 and July 2023, one of these companies, Ripley & Co Stevedoring & Handling Pvt Ltd, donated Rs 11.50 crore in bonds to the TMC in seven tranches. Separately, one of its directors, Prashant Kumar Jaiswal, gave Rs 4.30 crore in two tranches from October 2023.

* In January 2022, Netincon Marketing Pvt Ltd, a second company owned by the Bose family, donated Rs 3 crore in bonds to TMC. Records show that this company made a net profit of Rs 22.30 lakh in 2021-22.

*  A third company, Arrow Projects Pvt Ltd, donated Rs 4.5 crore in bonds to the TMC in four tranches between October 2022 and July 2023. The latest available records show that the company made a net profit of Rs 20.19 lakh in 2021-22.

Read | Don’t know who bought bonds, kept drop box at party office for such donations: TMC

There are no records of any of these entities donating in bonds to parties other than TMC since April 2019.

According to RoC records, Srinjoy Bose resigned as Ripley’s director in 2010 and transferred his 49 per cent share to his mother, Sampa Bose, in 2014.

The records show that he now draws an annual salary of Rs 1.80 crore as a permanent employee of the company.

Srinjoy’s brother Shoumik Bose (43%), Sampa Bose RSHPL Trust (40%) and Prashant Jaiswal (1.66%) hold an 85 per cent stake in Ripley. The remaining 15.34 per cent is held by Energy Investments Ltd, a company with a UAE post box number.

Also Read | Among top donors to BJP, TMC and Congress, 8 unlisted firms spent many times their profit

In Netincon Marketing, Srinjoy holds a 50.5 per cent share while his brother Shoumik holds 49.5 per cent with his wife Rai Bose. Arrow Projects shares its address and directors with Netincon Marketing.

When contacted by The Indian Express, Srinjoy Bose declined to comment. Despite messages, Jaiswal and Shoumik Bose were unavailable for comment.

Srinjoy became TMC’s Rajya Sabha MP in 2011. In November 2014, he was arrested by the CBI for alleged criminal conspiracy, misappropriation of funds and deriving undue financial benefits in connection with the Ponzi scam involving the Saradha Group. In February 2015, a day after his release on bail, he resigned from the Rajya Sabha and the TMC membership saying he realised in custody that politics was not his “cup of tea”.

Read | Electoral bonds data: TMC at No. 2 with Rs 1,609 crore, bond redemption rose after Assembly poll win

Before he was arrested in 2014, Srinjoy was Editor of the TMC mouthpiece ‘Jago Bangla’. He also owns and edits ‘Sangbad Pratidin’, a prominent Bengali newspaper, where Kunal Ghosh, a former TMC MP who was also arrested in the Saradha case, is a Consulting Editor.

Until December 2021, Srinjoy was also a director of Mohun Bagan Football Club (India) Pvt Ltd, the company formed exclusively for football activities of the iconic Mohun Bagan club headed by his father and former TMC Rajya Sabha MP Swapan Sadhan ‘Tutu’ Bose.

Ripley & Co Stevedoring & Handling, set up in 2000 in Kolkata, was primarily involved in loading and trade at various ports with seven subsidiaries in India and abroad. The company made net profits of Rs 121.14 crore in 2021-22 and Rs 135.75 crore in 2022-23.

Read | Over 75% of leading electoral bond donors to BJP, Cong, TMC, BJD, and BRS never donated before bonds era

The earliest records available with the RoC show that Srinjoy and Shoumik held 49 per cent each in the company along with Prashant Jaiswal (2%) in 2006. Srinjoy was also appointed a director in March 2003 and resigned in March 2010.

The Bose brothers held 98 per cent of Ripley until 2014 when the shares were transferred to their mother Sampa. In December 2015, Ripley offered a 15 per cent stake to a foreign company — Energy Investments Ltd — with a Dubai post box address for Rs 36.93 crore.

In 2020, Sampa transferred 43 per cent of her 83 per cent stake to her younger son Shoumik who had become a director in Ripley in April 2018. Since Sampa’s death in 2021, her remaining 40 per cent stake has been held by Sampa Bose RSHPL Trust.

Prashant Jaiswal was a founder member of the company in 2000. He quit as a director in December 2012 and was reappointed in September 2014.

Established in 2006, Netincon Marketing is involved in wholesale trading and transport and storage services. Arrow Projects was incorporated in 2009 and provides services such as security, transport and storage.

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