ED files chargesheet against Marans in Aircel-Maxis case

Also names Kalanithi's wife, Kavery, and three others, including two companies; court to consider chargesheet on Jan 18

The central government's enforcement directorate on Friday charged former Union telecom minister Dayanidhi Maran, his brother and Sun Group chief Kalanithi Maran, and four others in the trial court on the Aircel-Maxis money laundering case.

In the chargesheet filed before judge O.P. Saini, the ED named the Maran brothers, Kalanithi Maran’s wife, Kavery, and three others, including two companies, as accused. The court will consider the chargesheet on January 18. It asked the agency to place before it the entire set of relevant documents.

“The investigation... revealed that proceeds of crime worth Rs 742.58 crore were paid by companies based in Mauritius for Dayanidhi Maran, in the two companies, namely, Sun Direct TV Pvt Ltd (SDTPL) and South Asia FM Ltd (SAFL),” stated the ED on Friday.

On April 1 last year, the ED had attached Rs 742 crore of assets held by the brothers and Kavery. Their investigation is based on the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) report that Dayanidhi got 'illegal gratification' for the said sum from Maxis, a Malay telecom company. In August 2014, the CBI had charged the brothers, Malaysian business tycoon T Ananda Krishnan, Malaysian national Augustus Ralph Marshall, and four companies — Sun Direct TV, Maxis Communication Berhad, South Asia Entertainment Holding and Astro All Asia Network — in the case.

The attached assets include Rs 100 crore of fixed deposits held by Kalanithi Maran, freehold land and buildings owned by the Sun Network worth Rs 266 crore and fixed deposits worth Rs 7.47 crore held by Dayanidhi Maran.

ED is still investigating the involvement of foreign persons and others. “As and when this investigation is complete...supplementary complaint(s) shall be filed,” it said.

Earlier, CBI had told the court that Dayanidhi had “pressured” and “forced” Chennai-based telecom promoter C Sivasankaran to sell his stakes in Aircel and two subsidiary firms to Maxis Group in 2006. ED alleged the ex-telecom minister obtained the proceeds worth Rs 742.6 crore through companies of his relatives, camouflaging those as capital contribution in SDTPL and SAFL.

SDTPL is owned and controlled by Kalanithi Maran and Kavery Kalanithi. They are on its supervisory board as chairman and director, respectively.

Further investigation, relating to Foreign Investment Promotion Board approval to the Aircel–Maxis deal and related issues are the subject of further investigation. The aspects include receipt and transfer of funds in and outside India from Aircel Televentures and Maxis, directly and indirectly to the suspected Indian entities. In this regard, the trial court had issued letters of request on December 1, 2015, under Section 57 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, to courts in Singapore and Britain for investigation.