Loop Telecom CEO quizzed in 2G case
17 Jun 2011
With the Central Bureau Investigation preparing its third set of charges in telecom spectrum allocation scam, it today questioned Loop Telecom CEO Sandip Basu on the ownership pattern and shareholding of the company.
The investigation agency quizzed Basu on shareholding patterns and its alleged financial dealings with the Essar group.
The company is under the scanner on suspicion of acting as a front for the Essar group, in getting telecom licences, allegedly violating of rules. The Essar group denies the allegation.
The agency had sent Letters Rogatory to Mauritius seeking details of ownership patterns of Loop Telecom which had got telecom licences in 22 circles, even though it was ineligible for the same, as brought out by the Comptroller and Auditor General in its report.
In its report the CAG said Loop Telecom was not eligible for grant of Unified Access Service licence on the day they submitted their application which was 3 September, 2007.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) has told the telecom department that Loop Telecom was not an 'associate' of the Ruias-promoted Essar Group, which is in contradiction of its earlier report of 2009.
In its April 2011 communication, the MCA said a probe by its regional directorate - the Registrar of Companies in Mumbai - had found that Essar Group held only 2.15 (per cent) stake in Loop Telecom, as of September 2007 when the latter applied for a pan-India mobile permit.
According to the regional directorate's report the documents of the companies examined did not substantiate allegations that Khaitan Group, which owned Loop Telecom, had become 'associates of the Essar Group' when it obtained mobile permits in 2007.