The CBI will soon send judicial requests to Bermuda and the United Kingdom seeking details of money trail in the Aircel-Maxis deal in which the former Telecom Minister, Mr Dayanidhi Maran, is an accused.
The agency has alleged that Mr Maran had received Rs 547 crore as kickbacks from the Malaysian telecom company, sources said. These allegations have been refuted by Mr Maran.
Tracking the money trail, the CBI probe has reached the shores of Caribbean island Bermuda and the United Kingdom from where the money was routed to reach Indian companies.
The sources said the agency might send Letters Rogatory in the first week of March to the UK, Bermuda besides Malaysia and Mauritius as planned earlier.
The agency had earlier confined its probe to Malaysia and Mauritius in connection with the alleged routing of money in the takeover of Aircel by Malaysian giant Maxis.
Besides Mr Maran, the CBI had also accused his brother Mr Kalanithi Maran, Sun Direct TV Pvt Ltd Director, Chairman of Maxis Communications, Mr T. Ananda Krishnan, senior executive of Astro All Asia Network and Maxis, Mr Ralph Marshall, and Astro All Asia Networks, Sun Direct TV and Maxis Communications of complicity.
It has been alleged by former Aircel Chief, Mr C. Sivasankaran, that Mr Maran as the then Telecom Minister favoured Maxis Group in the takeover of his company and in return investments were made by the company through Astro network in Sun TV owned by Maran family.
The CBI sources claimed that quid-pro-quo on the part of the then Telecom Minister has been established during the probe. It has also been proved that there is direct evidence that the files of Mr Sivasankaran were deliberately delayed.