After DB Realty chief Shahid Balwa, it could be Unitech’s Sanjay Chandra.
After DB Realty chief Shahid Balwa, it could be Unitech’s Sanjay Chandra. Widening its net in the 2G scam probe, the CBI has come close to arresting Chandra, whose real estate firm received undue favours from former telecom minister A Raja during allocation of spectrum licenses.
According to a top CBI official, the agency has concrete evidence against Chandra, managing director of Unitech. The firm availed UAS licenses for 22 circles across India for a paltry Rs1,658 crore. It soon offloaded 60% of its shares to Norway-based telecom firm Telenor for Rs6,100 crore, making a profit of 267%. After the tie-up, the firm was renamed Uninor.
“With Raja and Balwa in our custody, we have got substantial evidence to nail Unitech. Both Swan and Unitech caused a loss of Rs7,105 crore to the government. In return, both paid a huge amount to Raja as kickback. Income tax (I-T) officials and us have already raided offices and residences of top officials of the Unitech Real Estate and collected incriminating documents. Its office-bearers might be arrested soon,’’ said a CBI official. The CBI has already questioned Chandra.
“Balwa has disclosed certain facts, which might lead to the booking of top Unitech officials,’’ the officer said.
The Enforcement Directorate and the I-T (investigation) have dug out financial details of the Unitech Wireless, telecom arm of Unitech, to ascertain the sources of fund for the purchase of the UAS licenses.
In fact, tapped telephonic conversation of corporate lobbyist Niira Radia with Ajay Chandra, chairman of the Unitech, has suggested that she had facilitated the cross-border transfer of funds to Unitech to purchase spectrum. The I-T department has already questioned the top brass of the Unitech wireless and Radia.
Radia’s controversial telephone conversations officially intercepted by the I-T department suggested that she had helped the company arrange money for the spectrum deal. I-T sources said the department is probing whether the source of the fund was legal and declared.
According to the documents accessed by DNA, Radia arranged the deal through Lehman Brothers Real Estate Partners in which the company had agreed to invest $175 million to acquire a 50% stake in the initial phase of a project on the Western Expressway of Mumbai with Unitech in June 2008.
``Lehman brothers were supposed to invest three tranches in Unitech’s project in Mumbai. The first investment of Rs740 crore was towards 50% of Unitech’s holdings in Shivalik Ventures Pvt. Ltd, a 50-50 joint venture between Unitech and Rohan Developers in Mumbai. The rest was to come in two tranches of around US$ 550 million each,’’ CBI documents stated.
CBI sources claimed that the Unitech wanted to stagger the inflow of funds to give the impression to the government that the funds have only come into the telecom company and there has not been any `windfall’ gain to the promoters of Unitech as such.
Unitech made efforts to strike deal with Telecom Italia as well as Telenor Norway, while the deal was finally struck with Norway telecom giant Telenor. However, CBI also claimed that Unitech arranged Rs250 crore from a country’s top most industrial house through Radia in order to purchase UAS licenses.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}