In April 2013, the group collapsed defrauding thousands of investors in the process.

Trinamool Congress MP Shatabdi Roy has returned to the Enforcement Directorate around Rs 31 lakh she had received from the tainted Saradha group for being its brand ambassador, ED sources said today.

Ms Roy had handed a bank draft of the amount to ED officials on Monday, the sources said adding it was delivered through a messenger.

Ms Roy had signed a Rs 49 lakh contract with the Saradha group to work as its brand ambassador when the ponzi scam was operating illegal collective investment schemes and mobilising huge money from the innocent public with the promise of high returns.

The MP, however, claimed that she had received Rs 31 lakh of the contract amount which she returned. In April 2013, the group collapsed defrauding thousands of investors in the process.

Several Trinamool Congress leaders and Bengali film actors like Prasenjit Chatterjee, Rituparna Sengupta, and Madan Mitra had been interrogated by the investigating agency in connection with the case.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the ED are probing the chit fund scam in the state.