Court to rule May 2 on ED chargesheet against Raja, Kanimozhi

A court here Wednesday reserved its order on taking cognizance of the chargesheet against former telecom minister A. Raja, DMK MP Kanimozhi and DMK chief M. Karunanidhi's wife Dayalu Ammal, among others, for money laundering in the 2G spectrum allocation case.

Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Special Judge O.P. Saini fixed May 2 for delivering his order on the chargesheet filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) against 10 people and nine companies.

The court order came after hearing the ED prosecutor's submission alleging that Raja played the principal role in allotment of licences and he "assisted" in the offence of money laundering.

The ED informed court the accused tried to show these transactions as "genuine". He called it suspicious as the reverse trail of money started when Raja was called by the CBI for questioning in connection with the 2G spectrum allocation case.

The ED prosecutor apprised judge that their investigation in the case emanates from the 2G allocation case and the accused people allegedly conspired and committed the scheduled offences.

He said money transaction was "not genuine" and it was a "bribe for grant of telecom licences to DB Group companies".

The ED filed the chargesheet April 25 naming Raja, Kanimozhi, Dayalu Ammal, Swan Telecom promoters Shahid Usman Balwa and Vinod Goenka, directors of Kusegaon Fruits and Vegetables Pvt. Ltd. Asif Balwa and Rajiv Agarwal, Bollywood producer Karim Morani, Kalaignar TV director Sharad Kumar and P. Amirthan as accused in the case.

The companies named are Swan Telecom Pvt. Ltd. (STPL), Kusegaon Realty Pvt. Ltd., Cineyug Media and Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. (Cineyug Films), Kalaignar TV (KTV) Pvt. Ltd., Dynamix Realty, Eversmile Construction Company Private Limited, Conwood Construction and Developers (P) Ltd., DB Realty Ltd., and Nihar Construction Pvt. Ltd.

The accused have been booked under various sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002.

"The investigation revealed that amount of Rs.200 crore was paid by promoters of the STPL, using their group entity Dynamix Realty, to KTV, through KFVPL and CFPL (Cineyug Films) in the garb of legitimate financial transaction, i.e. as loan/share application money," the ED counsel said.

The ED said the payment was illegal gratification for and on behalf of Raja and his associates in lieu of illegal favours given to the STPL for grant of UAS licence.

The ED apprised the court that investigation has further revealed that the return of Rs.200 crore has been done with an additional amount in order to show this as illegal payment in the guise of legal and bona fide financial transactions.

The investigating agency held the entire amount of Rs.223.55 crore was, in fact, the proceeds of crime.