ED attaches Rs740-cr Maran bros assets in telecom case
02 Apr 2015
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) yesterday attached assets worth Rs742 crore of former union telecom minister Dayanidhi Maran of the DMK party and his brother Kalanithi Maran in a case related to the spectrum scam.
The case pertains to the Aircel-Maxis deal, in which the Marans – once a powerhouse in Tamil Nadu politics - are accused along with six others.
The Central Bureau of Investigation says that in 2006, Dayanidhi Maran, as telecommunications minister, misused his office to engineer the sale of Aircel to Malaysia's Maxis Group.
The CBI filed a criminal case that accuses Maran of corruption and conspiracy, alleging that in exchange, Maxis paid "illegal gratification" worth more than Rs700 crore, a part of which was invested in a media company that is part of the Sun Group, owned by Kalanithi Maran.
A separate case of money-laundering has been filed against the Marans by the Enforcement Directorate, which said yesterday that a fixed deposit of Rs100 crore in the name of Kalanithi Maran is among a series of bank accounts and properties that will be seized in a case that involves the Mauritius tax-saving route,
"The money has been utilized by the companies in their business or investments," said a statement by the ED, which is investigating the money-laundering charges. The Maran and Maxis have repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.
Maran is a leader of the DMK which is mired in multiple financial scandals. Andimuthu Raja of the party, who replaced Maran as telecom minister under the previous UPA government, is being tried for criminal conspiracy and corruption for allegedly giving mobile network licenses and free airwaves to companies who bribed him.
The CBI began investigating the Aircel-Maxis case in 2011 after allegations that Dayanithi Maran, as telecom minister, refused to sanction key permits for Aircel owner C Sivasankaran while orchestrating a concerted campaign allegedly to coerce the entrepreneur to sell his firm to Maxis, which is owned by Malaysia's second-richest man T Ananda Krishnan.
The CBI had alleged in court that Dayanidhi Maran "pressured" and "forced" Chennai-based telecom promoter C Sivasankaran to sell his stakes in Aircel and two subsidiary firms to Maxis in 2006.
In its charge-sheet, the CBI names Dayanidhi and Kalanithi Maran, T Ananda Krishnan, Malaysian national Augustus Ralph Marshall and four firms - Sun Direct TV Pvt Ltd, Maxis Communication Berhad, South Asia Entertainment Holding Ltd and Astro All Asia Network PLC - as accused in the case.
They have been charged for offences under Section 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code and under relevant provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
