Former Telecom Minister A Raja was in “connivance” with MP Kanimozhi, DMK supremo M Karunanidhi’s wife Dayalu Ammal and other co-accused in “parking” an illegal gratification of ₹200 crore in Kalaignar TV, a special court today said and put them on trial on money laundering charges. If convicted, Raja and others will face a maximum sentence of up to seven years.
This is the second case in the 2G spectrum allocation scam in which Raja, Kanimozhi and others, including Swan Telecom promoters Shahid Usman Balwa and Vinod Goenka, will face trial for their alleged involvement in the scam.
Trial from Nov 11
The court on Friday framed charges against 19 accused — 10 individuals and nine companies — under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and fixed the case for commencement of trial on November 11.
It said there was enough material on record to make a prima facie case against all the accused, who were chargesheeted by the Enforcement Directorate on April 25 for committing an offence punishable under the PMLA.
“Accordingly, I find that there is enough material on record to make out or to presume a prima facie case against each accused for committing an offence of money-laundering as defined under Section 3 and punishable under Section 4 of the Act,” said Special CBI Judge OP Saini.
Besides Raja, Kanimozhi and Dayalu Ammal, the individual co-accused in the case are Shahid Balwa, Vinod Goenka; Directors of Kusegaon Fruits and Vegetables Pvt Ltd Asif Balwa and Rajiv Agarwal; Kalaignar TV Managing Director Sharad Kumar and its Director P Amirtham and Bollywood producer Karim Morani. All of them are out on bail.
The court, in its 208-page order, said: “A Raja in connivance with MK Dayalu, K Kanimozhi and Sharad Kumar, was actually involved in parking the illegal gratification of ₹200 crore received from Shahid U Balwa and Vinod K Goenka in Kalaignar TV.”
“He (Raja) was also actually involved in the process of refund of the proceeds of crime of ₹223.55 crore in order to wriggle out of the charges of crime. Thus, Raja has committed the offence of money-laundering as defined under section 3 of the Act,” the order said.
The court also framed charges against the nine accused firms: Swan Telecom Pvt Ltd (STPL), Kusegaon Realty Pvt Ltd (formerly known as Kusegaon Fruits and Vegetables Pvt Ltd), Cineyug Media and Entertainment Pvt Ltd (formerly known as Cineyug Films Pvt Ltd), Kalaignar TV Pvt Ltd, Dynamix Realty, Eversmile Construction Company Pvt Ltd, Conwood Constructions and Developers (P) Ltd, DB Realty Ltd and Nihar Constructions Pvt Ltd.