Seems to have invested throughout the world.
CBI may have to send Letter Rogatory to all the countries in the UN.
In the year 2008-09, the minister has invested Rs 8.52 lakh in shares while his wife had an investment of 3.04 lakh in the shares but in the year ending March 31, 2010, Raja‘s investments in shares increased to a little over Rs 23 lakh.
His spouse’s investment have also increase by Rs Six lakh, the property returns filed by the Minister show.
The details came through the reply to an RTI application filed by S C Agrawal seeking to know the latest asset details of the Ministers of the Union Cabinet.
http://news.in.msn.com/national/article.aspx?cp-documentid=4607475
After grilling key aide and Green House Promoters managing director Sadiq Batcha on Tuesday, CBI investigators claimed on Wednesday former telecom minister A Raja invested a chunk of the kickbacks he received in the sale of second generation mobile telephony spectrum in real estate.
They said the agency had evidence that the money was re-routed to make it appear foreign and put in 14 real estate front companies of Raja in India.
Green House Promoters of Chennai is one of the 14 firms where thousands of crores of black money was illegally parked in an attempt to convert it into white.
CBI has so far interrogated Batcha four times as he is suspected of laundering bribes Raja allegedly received in the Rs1.76 lakh-crore scam.
Green House and Equaas Estates were floated in 2004, a few months after Raja became Union minister for environment. Green House was promoted by the former minister’s eldest nephew RP Paramesh Kumar and Batcha.
Subsequently, Raja’s wife MA Parameswari joined it as a director and used the minister’s official residence, Motilal Nehru Marg, Delhi, as her business address. With these high-profile inductions, the share capital of the firm surged to a respectable Rs3 crore within 14 months of launch.
After expanding operations to Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and other parts of southern India, Green House opened an office in Singapore in 2007, violating all Foreign Exchange Management Act and RBI guidelines.
“We have learnt that the Singapore branch of the company operating from Serangoon was used to park hawala money. From this office a huge amount was pumped into its Chennai office to purchase land across the country with the help of DB Realty,” a source said.
http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_a-raja-used-2g-money-to-become-concrete-king_1512009
Sources have told CNN-IBN that the CBI’s investigations at this stage focus on the bribe money that exchanged hands.
CBI sources allege that a sum of Rs 32,000 crore was invested in Mauritus and Madagascar at Raja’s behest.
CBI had sent letter rogatories to five countries – Mauritus, Madagascar, Isle of man, UAE and Cyprus.
CBI is investigating the exact worth of the bribe that Raja and others were allegedly paid and also the role of the alleged bribe payers.
http://ibnlive.in.com/news/cbi-traces-2g-trail-raja-parked-money-abroad/142444-3.html
CBI sources said that in response to letters rogatory (LRs), authorities in both the island countries have provided the agency with details which confirm a quid pro quo between Raja and the telcom companies that were helped by him to jump the queue for spectrum, in contravention of the first-come first-served policy.
The LRs were sent soon after the CBI lodged an FIR in October 2009 on the spectrum scan, and much before Supreme Court started probing its investigation into the alleged swindle.
TOI had reported on February 11 that the investigating agencies believe that Raja allegedly recieved almost Rs 3,000 crores in bribes, and that the entire 2G scam could have caused a loss of Rs 45,000-50,000 crores to the exchequer.
Enforcement Directorate, the other agency probing the spectrum scam, will soon send LRs to as many as 10 countries. The ED is investigating the flow of foreign funds in the telecom sector as well as whether money was sent abroad by suspects in the spectrum scam.
It has so far conducted source-based investigations (preliminary soundings) in Singapore, Mauritius, Cyprus, Dubai (UAE), Moscow ( Russia), Norway, Isle of Man, Jersy Island and British Virgin Island.
‘Raja used wife’s a/c to stash bribe money in Mauritius and Seychelles’ – The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Raja-used-wifes-a/c-to-stash-bribe-money-in-Mauritius-and-Seychelles/articleshow/7607294.cms#ixzz1FPAW5OpB
Highly placed sources, recalling the recent unearthing of the payment of a multi-crore rupee cheque, said the tax authorities reportedly traced it to be part of the 2G scam. The money, a top official said, suspectedly went to Kalaignar TV, owned by the family of DMK chief M Karunanidhi.
It was a Rs 206-crore cheque apparently transferred from Cineyug Films, a Mumbai-based event management company, he added.
On Wednesday, Balwa, who was arrested last evening from his Bandra residence, was produced before Special CBI Judge S C Chandak. His counsel contended that the company of his client was being singled out and he was being made “scapegoat” despite the involvement of more firms in the case.
The CBI countered it by saying Balwa sold the licence to UAE-based Etisalat, allegedly for as high as Rs 4,200 crore while he got it for a paltry Rs 1,537 crore.
At this, the judge said that since the CBI has Raja in its custody, it may need to confront the ex-minister and Balwa as the accused may have divulged something during his interrogation.
Balwa, the fourth person to be arrested in the 2G case, is allegedly close to underworld don Dawood Ibrahim.
Sources said the information yet to be revealed from Balwa could help them trace the 2G money trail which he got by selling Swan’s 45 per cent stake to the UAE-based Etisalat for $900 million in 2009. The company is now known as Etisalat-DB.
The obscure Swaan had mysteriously bagged 2G licences for 13 out of 22 circles across India for a paltry Rs 1,537 crore.
CBI sources claimed they have the evidence to charge Raja for giving undervalued spectrum deal to Balwa who, in return, helped the ex-minister channelise kickbacks spectrum kickbacks into the real estate sector.
http://expressbuzz.com/nation/does-2g-spectrum-money-trail-lead-to-dmk-boss/246671.html