FROM 2G TO CWG, TIHAR HAS NEVER HOSTED SO MANY BUSINESS TYCOONS, POLITICIANS 3 More Charged For Paying Money; Karuna’s Daughter Faces Arrest
Smriti Singh | TNN
New Delhi: Tamil Nadu’s first family has been singed by the 2G scam. On Monday, the CBI charged Kanimozhi, DMK chief M Karunanidhi’s daughter, of conspiring with former communications minister A Raja to receive a bribe of Rs 200 crore which was allegedly routed to DMK’s Kalaignar TV.
Kanimozhi along with Kalaignar TV CEO Sharad Kumar, Cineyug Films Karim Morani and Kusegaon Fruits and Vegetables Asif Balwa and Rajiv B Agarwal has been named in CBI’s second chargesheet for conspiracy and under the Prevention of Corruption Act. While Asif and Agarwal were arrested on March 29, Kanimozhi, Kumar and Morani have been asked to appear in the special 2G scam court on May 6. The odds are that they will be arrested that day. Accepting the chargesheet, the court pronounced: “There is enough incriminating material on record” to proceed against the accused.
On Feb 4, TOI (along with ‘The Economic Times’) had first reported the money trail from DB Group’s Dynamix Realty and two other sister firms to Kalaignar TV which is owned 60% by Karunanidhi’s wife Dayalu Ammal, and 20% by Kanimozhi and Sharad Kumar. And on March 30, TOI was the first to report that Kanimozhi would be charged in the 2G case. While Kanimozhi and Kumar have been charged by the CBI, Dayalu Ammal has been spared because she doesn’t know English and has not been involved in the day-to-day running.
In its 48-page supplementary chargesheet, supported by about 8,000 documents, the CBI said: “Dynamix Realty, which is a partnership firm of Dynamix Balwa group companies, paid Rs 200 crore as illegal gratification to Kalaignar TV, which is also controlled by affiliates of DMK to which accused A Raja belongs, and such fund transfer was facilitated by Asif Balwa, Rajeev Agarwal and Karim Morani through their companies Kusegaon Fruits and Vegetables and Cineyug Films.” While indicting Kanimozhi, the agency said that the Rajya Sabha member was the active brain behind Kalaignar TV and held a 20% stake. She actively pursued with the intermediaries and DMK headquarters the matter regarding reappointment of A Raja as communications minister in 2009, “which clearly establishes the strong association of Kanimozhi and A Raja in the official/ political matters,” CBI said.
The first chargesheet filed on April 2 had charged nine individuals, led by Raja, and three companies of criminal conspiracy, forgery, cheating and bribery and causing a loss over Rs 30,000 crore in the award of telecom licences and spectrum. The supplementary for the first time draws a money trail in the scam, which the CAG had estimated to have caused a loss of up to Rs 1.76 lakh crore to the exchequer.
The agency told the court that its investigations have revealed that Dynamix Realty partnership firm of DB Realty, Eversmile Construction and Conwood Construction Developers paid Rs 200 crore to Kalaignar TV between December 2008 and August 2009. Dynamix Realty had routed the funds through Kusegaon, which is a DB Group company, and Cineyug Films, where DB later held a 49% stake.
Elaborating on the money trail, CBI has said that the fund flow started on December 23, 2008, six days after Swan Telecom received Rs 3,609 crore from Etisalat Mauritius and Genex Exim Ventures. Over the next eight months, DB Realty transferred Rs 209.25 crore to Kusegaon Fruits and Vegetables through 16 transactions.
In turn, Kusegoan transferred Rs 200 crore to Cineyug Films in seven transactions. Another Rs 6.25 crore was transferred to Cineyug through five transactions between January and July 2009. This, CBI has said, was post facto shown as a transfer by Kusegaon for acquisition of 49% in Cineyug. In the last leg, through six transactions between December 23, 2008 and August 7, 2009, Morani transferred Rs 200 crore Kalaignar TV account. The Accused Kanimozhi | DMK MP & TN chief minister M Karunanidhi’s daughter Sharad Kumar | CEO, Kalaignar TV
Asif Balwa | Director, Kusegaon Fruits & Veg (part of DB Group) & Shahid Balwa’s cousin (already in custody)
Rajiv Agarwal | Director, Kusegaon Fruits and Veg (already in custody)
Karim Morani | Director, Cineyug Media The Charges
Kanimozhi “active brain” behind Kalaignar TV, shareholder She pushed for A Raja’s appointment as telecom minister Along with Raja and Kumar received Rs 200cr in Kalaignar TV from DB Group as ‘reward for undue favours’ Raja pursued Kalaignar’s case with I&B ministry, Tata Sky Dynamix Realty routed payments via Kusegaon, Cineyug; later sought to pass them off as loans and refunded money Charged for criminal conspiracy, under Prevention of Corruption Act
Already In Judicial Custody
A Raja | Former telecom minister Siddhartha Behura | Former telecom secretary R K Chandolia | Former pvt secy to Raja Sanjay Chandra | Chairman, Unitech Wireless (TN) Vinod Goenka | Co-promoter, Swan Telecom Shahid Balwa | MD, DB Realty Gautam Doshi | Group MD, Reliance ADAG Surender Pipara | Group president, Reliance ADAG Hari Nair | Sr VP, Reliance ADAG WHAT NEXT
Kanimozhi will have to appear before CBI special court on May 6 Not naming Dayalu Ammal a reprieve for DMK. Ongoing probe unlikely to affect Cong-DMK ties, coalition
3rd chargesheet likely to focus on role of Loop Telecom and allocation of licences since 2001, according to CBI sources CBI’s clean chit to Batcha TIMES NEWS NETWORK
New Delhi: Though the companies and those named by the CBI claimed that the money transfer from DB Group to Kalaignar TV was a “loan”, the investigating agency has rubbished the claim saying “no valid agreement was signed between any of the parties and no collaterals/securities were ensured to secure the alleged loan amounts”.
Investigation has also revealed that when accused A Raja was contacted by the CBI for his examination scheduled on December 24, 2010, Kalaignar TV started refunding the amount of Rs 200 crore to Dynamix Realty, through Kusegaon Fruits & Vegetables. A substantial part of the amounts was refunded by it just before February 2, 2011, when Raja was arrested, the chargesheet said.
The CBI has, however, given a clean chit to Green House Promoters, which was owned by Raja’s aide Sadiq Batcha and his wife, in the conspiracy saying that the money transferred by DB Realty to the company was returned prior to the registration of FIR in the scam.
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