/>

ED sends Letters Rogatory to Mauritius, Malaysia

Published - February 17, 2015 01:41 am IST - NEW DELHI:

In a departure from the normal practice of only seeking information, the Enforcement Directorate has issued Letters Rogatory requesting Mauritius and Malaysia to investigate money laundering charges involving companies owned by Kalanithi Maran in the Aircel-Maxis case.

The judicial requests have been sent as part of the ED probe on the basis of a charge sheet filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation last August against eight accused, including former Telecom Minister Dayanidhi Maran and his brother Kalanithi Maran. The ED hopes that the responses from the two countries would help it take the money laundering probe forward.

The CBI has alleged that illegal gratification, in lieu of spectrum licences to Maxis group (Aircel), was paid in the garb of investments into Kalanithi Maran-promoted Sun Direct from South Asia Entertainment Holdings Limited (Mauritius), which was a 100 per cent subsidiary of Astro All Asia Network of Plc, UK. Money transfers to the tune of Rs. 700 crore are under the ED scanner.

According to the CBI charge sheet, Sivasankaran of Aircel, who had applied for spectrum licence, was forced to sell the company. After the Maxis group owned by Malaysian business tycoon T. Ananda Krishnan acquired 74 per cent stake in Aircel in March 2006, the company got the mandatory clearances and licences.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.