Corporate espionage: CBI nabs govt officials selling confidential papers

Following raids at six places in Delhi and two in Mumbai, the agency seized documents related to proposals before the Foreign Investment Promotion Board, sources said

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday arrested three people, including two finance ministry officials, for allegedly selling confidential government documents to a well known chartered accountant, which was passed on to corporate houses.

Following raids at six places in Delhi and two in Mumbai, the agency seized documents related to proposals before the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB), sources said. This investigation isn’t related to the raids being conducted by the Delhi Police in similar cases in other central government ministries.

“These documents were related to foreign investment proposals still under the consideration of the FIPB,” a CBI official told Business Standard.

The Press Trust of India (PTI) reported the companies that came under the scanner for allegedly benefiting from the documents included HDFC Bank, IndusInd Bank, DLF Limitless Pvt Ltd, Glenmark Pharmaceuticals and Novalead Pharmaceuticals.

When contacted, an HDFC Bank spokesperson said the company had no knowledge of this matter. DLF, too, denied any involvement. “DLF strongly denies any link with the said company and any wrongdoing on its part. This is a mischievous attempt to malign DLF,” the company stated.

PTI said the other companies had also been contacted, and their replies were awaited.

Those arrested by CBI were Khemchand Gandhi, a Mumbai-based chartered accountant; Lala Ram Sharma, a section officer in the Department of Economic Affairs; and Ashok Kumar Singh, under-secretary in the Department of Disinvestment.

Sources said about Rs 60 lakh had been recovered from Gandhi’s residence and office in Mumbai.

CBI sources did not rule out further detainments, saying a number of officials in the commerce and finance ministries were under the scanner.

Sources said the agency was tracking the government officials and the chartered accountant named earlier for two years. On Thursday, it intercepted a courier in Mumbai, following which a confidential file was recovered. According to sources, the courier was allegedly sent by Ashok Kumar Singh to Khemchand Gandhi.

Sale of the policy documents helped the alleged beneficiary companies prepare for the implementation of various foreign investment policies and foreign direct investment proposals, sources said.

They added all groups under the scanner had, at different times, submitted foreign investments proposals to the FIPB.