2G spectrum scam: Money trail traced to 6 countries, 31 firms and persons are under scrutiny
merisarkar news service New Delhi, March 15, 2011
Thirty one firms have come under the scrutiny of the Enforcement Directorate which told the Supreme Court today that multicrore foreign transactions relating to the 2G spectrum scam have been traced to at least six countries.
The agency placed the status report of its investigation in the scam in a sealed envelop before a bench comprising justices G S Singhvi and A K Ganguly in which it has mentioned that it is seeking the help of foreign authorities in tracking the source of money.
Senior Advocate K K Venugopal, appearing for ED, said that that Letters Rogatory have been sent to Singapore, Cyprus, Jersey and Virgin Islands in connection with the 2G spectrum scam. Similar communications were being sent to two more countries.
He said that 31 companies have so far been summoned and statements of 26 companies have been recorded.
Meanwhile, Venugopal did not reveal the names of individuals and companies mentioned in the report.
He said day to day details of transactions in a bank account have been mentioned in the report as the account holder had failed to explain the source of Rs 2.5 crore lying
with him. He has been asked to submit the documents.
ED in its report also mentioned that after granting licence, a person sold his equity in the company and he made huge monetary gains which has traced to Mauritius.
It said that a person has paid 100 crore rupees for liasioning.
The Court after going through the report said that prima facie there seems to be violation of law of the land.
It asked the ED about how many people are involved in investigating the scam.
The court had expressed satisfaction about the progress in the probe into the case and asked the agency to file status report on March 15.
