Peter Mukerjea used Indrani as a money funnel

The media discourse over the Sheena Bora murder case has focused overtly on how Indrani used Peter to climb the ladder of success. But financial dealings of Peter reveal that he was indeed the man in command, using Indrani in ways she had never imagined before.

Peter's brains with Indrani's face

Unsecured loans were taken through funds that Peter had galvanised from overseas private equity investors. Indrani Incon Pvt Ltd was one of the many companies floated by Peter and Indrani Mukerjea. The company’s cash flow statements show that in 2007 when it came into existence, Rs 33.37 crore were taken as loan from Peter’s business associates. By 2009, the loans had swelled to Rs 87.21 crore. However, only Rs 42.82 crore out of it was invested to buy shares of INX Media Private Ltd. The husband-wife duo exited the company the same year by selling a 30% stake. Documents show that Peter and Indrani continued to remain investors in INX till a few months before Sheena’s alleged murder on April 24, 2012. Sometime in 2012, Indrani and Peter completely sold out their stake in INX News Pvt Ltd. However in the company’s 2012 accounts, what should have been a ‘gain’ from the sale of shares was shown as a ‘loss’ of Rs 86.27 crore. Documents reveal that the amount was used to repay a ‘loan from a director’. Since only Indrani and Peter were the directors of Indrani Ipcon Pvt Ltd, the money could have gone only to either of them. The nature of this transaction indicates that the money quite simply vanished between Indrani and Peter. However, Indrani was not just being used as an ‘outlet’ by Peter but also as an ‘inlet’ for funneling in crores worth of investors' money.

Indrani – the inlet and outlet

In 2007, Peter asked Indrani to head another company by the name of IPM Incon Pvt Ltd. In this case Indrani was made the ‘inlet’. Documents show that Rs 10 crore were given as a loan by Indrani to the company and the amount was used to buy shares in INX Media Pvt Ltd. IPM Incon Pvt Ltd neither paid any taxes nor had any staff in its rolls. Its registered address in Mumbai is a dumping ground for construction materials in an upscale mall. In 2009, Peter moved to strike-off the company. At the time of moving the application, the IPM Incon Pvt Ltd is still shown as owing Rs 10 crore to Indrani Mukerjea. However, a copy of Peter’s affidavit submitted along with the request to shut down the company contradicts the books of accounts. Despite company accounts showing an amount of Rs 10 crore outstanding to Indrani, Peter in his affidavit states the company’s liabilities as ‘nil’. Indrani, the other director along with Peter signed a similar affidavit. Both of them mention the company to have been ‘inoperative since the date of incorporation’ despite Rs 10 crore being routed through it in a space of three years.

Read: Peter - Indrani Mukerjea saga: The who's who of INX Media

Indrani's 'loan' that stopped with Sheena's death

In all previous companies jointly owned by the couple prior to their exit from INX Media Pvt Ltd, Peter had always followed Indrani’s entry into the business. However, in 2009, both of them jointly started INX Executive Search Pvt Ltd. In its very year of establishment, Peter approved a loan of Rs 10 crore to his co-director and wife Indrani. Curiously, the company was started with a share capital of Rs 10 crore with Indrani owning 99.9% stake in it. A few months before Sheena’s death in 2012, Peter along with Indrani initiated the process of winding up the company and striking off its official records. While ‘Indrani was given’ a loan of Rs 10 crore, she pumped back a few lakhs into the company as a ‘loan’ to it. By 2012, Indrani was shown to have given back only Rs 21 lakh. Interestingly, Indrani’s ‘loan to the company’ ended the year Sheena died.

There is no trace of what happened to the remaining Rs 9.8 crore. The company had a fake Mumbai address, had no employees and paid no tax to the government. INX Executive Search Pvt Ltd was also the holding company of Indrani Ipcon Pvt Ltd from which almost Rs 87 crore had ‘vanished’.

From 'X' to Peter (and Indrani)

On the same day that INX Executive Search came into existence, Peter and Indrani also established another company named INX Services Pvt Ltd with a paid-up capital of Rs 50 lakh, 99.9% of which was owned by Indrani and the remaining by Peter. This time Indrani was not given a loan from the company. Instead, the company took loans ‘from one of its directors’. In 2009, a loan of Rs 17 lakh was sanctioned. When Sheena died, loans amounting to Rs 47 lakh were given to INX Services Pvt Ltd by ‘a director’. Till 2014, Rs 69 lakh had been pumped into the company with no business activity to show in its books except money transactions between Peter and Indrani. All such ‘loans’ were interest-free and had no terms of re-payment. In plain terms, Peter and Indrani were raising money elsewhere and giving loans to themselves through a company that had no business, genuine address and only losses of a few thousand rupees to show in its books. Peter and Indrani had applied for winding up the company the year Sheena was allegedly murdered.

The Rs 100-crore question

The four companies in question saw almost Rs 100 crore disappear from their books when Peter and Indrani were at the helm of affairs. There were six other companies in which both of them had active roles. Police sources reveal that Peter was the ‘brains’ behind all the companies while Indrani was the ‘face’ of all dubious transactions the duo has been accused of. One of those who had invested in INX Media Private Ltd, was Temasek – the investment arm of the Singapore government. Temasek had reportedly conducted an audit of the Mukherjeas dealings after realising that money was being siphoned off. 

When contacted Temasek’s spokesperson said Temasek had divested its stake off INX Media Private Ltd and declined to comment any further. 

Also Read: Peter - Indrani Mukerjea saga: Here's how the money travelled