The Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday ordered freezing of bank accounts and attachment of immovable properties worth Rs 223 crore, of five companies, in connection with the alleged bribe of Rs 200 crore paid to Kalaignar TV in the 2G spectrum allocation scam.
The value of properties attached of these companies are Dynamix Realty (Rs 134 crore), Conwood Construction and Developers (Rs 22 crore), Nihar Constructions (Rs 1.10 crore), DB Realty (Rs 52 crore) and Eversmile Construction Company (Rs 13 crore).
When contacted, representatives of the construction companies said they were awaiting the order. ED has made the CBI chargesheet in this regard as the basis for this order.
“As per the chargesheets of CBI, a bribe of Rs 200 crores was given by Swan Telecom Pvt. Ltd (now, Etisalat DB Telecom Pvt. Ltd) to Kalaignar TV, through a number of intermediary companies in the garb of loan or share application money. However, the same was returned to Dynamix Realty (a company of Shahid Usman Balwa and Vinod Goenka),”ED officials alleged.
“The details of the chargesheet show disclosures made by the intermediary companies in the movement of the bribe money, under the garb of loan or share application money do not substantiate a genuine and bonafide financial transactions,” they said.
The order has been issued on a probe report by investigating officer of the case Rajeshwar Singh. The companies can challenge the order before the Delhi-based appellate authority for Prevention of Money Laundering.
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The properties will be attached under the provisions of the PMLA and have been termed as “proceeds of crime” under the Act, they said. This is the first attachment order in 2G case and the action is likely to be followed by the attachment of properties of various telecom firms whose names figure in the case including of Kalaignar TV, Kusegaon Fruits and Cineyug Films.
The CBI chargesheet has alleged a bribe money of Rs 200 crore had been channelised from Shahid Usman Balwa’s DB Realty to DMK-run Kalaignar TV through a “circuitous route” via Cineyug Films and Kusegaon Fruits and Vegetables Pvt Ltd for grant of licence to Balwa’s Swan Telecom.
CBI, in its first charge sheet, has alleged Balwa, along with other co-accused in the case, had entered into a conspiracy for manipulating the procedure for allocation of spectrum with the aim of favouring companies like Swan Telecom and Unitech Group.