2G: ED mounts trouble for Marans in Aircel-Maxis deal

New Delhi, Feb 8: There seems to more trouble in the offing for former Union Minister Dayanidhi Maran and his brother Kalanidhi in the 2G spectrum scam. The trouble came in the form of a money laundering case registered by the Enforcement Directorate.

The case was filed under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) that is related to the alleged illegal gratification of about Rs 550 crore allegedly received by the Maran brothers in the Aircel-Maxis deal.

Dayanidhi Maran had quit from the post of Union Telecom Minister after his name surfaced in the scam. He is alleged to have favoured Malaysian firm Maxis over Aircel in granting telecom licences in 2004-05. Maran had however denied all the allegations. The CBI is currently probing the case that involves Dayanidhi and his brother Kalanidhi, who is the MD of Sun TV.

The investigative agency is also probing if the Marans flouted foreign exchange rules in this deal as it registered an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR), an equivalent of the FIR.

In the course of the investigation, the CBI has also registered a case against former Telecom Decretary Shyamal Ghosh, then Deputy Director General J R Gupta and few telecom companies for alleged irregularities in the granting of additional 2G spectrum during 2001-03, ie...during the NDA regime. The ED will also record the statements of those named in the ECIR.

OneIndia News