2G scam: CBI may continue to question Raja

It would appear that former telecom minister A Raja is going to face more tough times, with the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) saying it has not received “satisfactory clarification” from him on allegations that certain telecom companies benefited during his tenure.

Raja, who hails from the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) party, was interrogated for 15 hours over Friday and Saturday by the CBI at its headquarters in Delhi in connection with charges of irregularities while allocating spectrum.

Sources in the CBI said the questioning of Raja will continue. Moreover, the Enforcement Directorate too wants to interrogate the Lok Sabha member to establish his role in the overseas money trail probe.

The sources said Raja was queried about the “money trail” in specific and also about Swan Telecom and Unitech, two companies that were given 2G licences by allegedly flouting the the DoT rules.

According to the sources, the 2G scam can be traced to real estate companies — Swan and Unitech — bagging spectrum licences at throwaway prices. These firms then offloaded their shares at exorbitant prices to multinational telecom giants.
Swan Telecom, in particular, bagged licences for operating in 13 circles by paying a mere Rs1,537 crore. Within months, it sold 45% of its shares to Etisalat, the UAE telecom giant, for US $900 million (about Rs 4,500 crore).

Swan Telecom, earlier known as Swan Capital, was purchased by Maharashtra-based entrepreneurs Shahid Balwa and Vinod Goenka from Anil Ambani in 2007. Sources said the CBI believes that Raja helped Balwa and Goenka take over Swan and are trying to establish a link. As Raja had put Swan in a priority list for spectrum allocation, besides giving it the important Delhi and Mumbai circles.

“We have information that former minister had equity stakes in these companies. We have questioned him on this front and will question him again,” the source said.