KOLKATA: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday questioned renowned magician PC Sorcar (Junior) in connection with its ongoing investigation into alleged chit fund fraud in which investors were duped of more than Rs 790 crore.
Soon after Sorcar reached the ED office in Salt Lake on Friday afternoon the ED officers started questioning him in connection with the scam allegedly involving two companies identified by the central agencies as Pincon Group and Tower Infotech Ltd.
It was not the first time the magician came under the scanner of a central agency. In 2021, the CBI searched his Ballygunge residence in connection with the same case.
Sources in the ED said Sorcar’s name came under its scanner after a senior official of Tower Group, a chit fund company, was arrested and during the questioning of the accused.
“We questioned Sorcar to ascertain his role with the chit fund company. Evidence collected from the officers of the agency indicated a business deal between the magician and the chit fund company and the agency is investigating whether money collected from depositors was laundered through Sorcar,” said an ED officer.
The magician was questioned for over three hours at the central agency’s office.
The Tower Group collected Rs 790 crore from depositors and hundreds of them complained that they were duped as the company did not refund their deposit.
In 2021, the Election Commission issued a show cause notice to Sorcar, who contested from North 24 Parganas’ Barasat Lok Sabha constituency, for allegedly making derogatory comments against Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
The magician was issued a show cause notice based on a complaint by the Trinamool Congress candidate from the same constituency Kakali Ghosh Dastidar, who defeated Sorcar in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.
