Aircel Maxis deal: CBI to seek details from UK, Bermuda

The CBI will soon send judicial requests to Bermuda and the United Kingdom (UK) seeking details of money trail in the Aircel-Maxis deal in which former Telecom Minister Dayanidhi Maran is an accused.

The agency has alleged the Maran had received Rs 547 crore as kickbacks from the Malaysian telecom company, sources said. These allegations have been refuted by Maran.

Tracking the money trail, the CBI probe has reached the shores of Caribbean island Bermuda and the United Kingdom from where the money was routed to reach Indian companies, agency sources said.

They said the agency might send Letters Rogatory in the first week of March to the UK, Bermuda besides Malaysia and Mauritius as planned earlier.

The agency had earlier confined its probe to Malaysia and Mauritius in connection with alleged routing of money in the takeover of Aircel by Malaysian giant Maxis, they said.

Besides Maran, the CBI had also accused his brother Kalanithi Maran, Sun Direct TV Pvt Director, Chairman of Maxis Communication T Ananda Krishnan, senior executive of Astro All Asia Network and Maxis Ralph Marshall and three companies Astro All Asia Networks, Sun Direct TV and Maxis Communications of complicity.

It has been alleged by former Aircel Chief C Sivasankaran that Maran as the then Telecom Minister favoured Maxis-group in the takeover of his company and in return investments were made by the company through Astro network in Sun TV owned by Maran family.

Sources in the CBI claimed that quid-pro-quo on part of the then Telecom Minister has been established during the probe. It has also been proved during the CBI probe that there is direct evidence that files of Sivasankaran were deliberately delayed, sources said.