New Delhi: More startling revelations have come out in the Lalit Modi controversy, as photos have been accessed of former Indian Premier League (IPL) commissioner and Mumbai Police Chief Rakesh Maria.
Rakesh Maria met Lalit Modi in July last year in London when he was there to attend a conference. Maria has told sources that Modi's lawyers contacted him and told him that Modi was receiving threats from the underworld.
According to Maria, the conversation lasted for 10 to 15 minutes by the end of which Maria had asked Modi to come to Mumbai and file a complaint. Maria reportedly filed a confidential report to the Director General of Police (DGP) as well as the Home Department keeping them in the loop.
Though looking at Maria's actions it seems there is no illegality or impropriety involved in the meeting, but considering the number of cases reported against Modi, the picture has come under the scanner.
The Enforcement Directorate is in the process of serving final penalty notices in 16 alleged forex violation cases amounting to an estimated Rs 1,700 crore against former IPL chairman and others as part of its wide-ranging probe in the alleged financial irregularities in various editions of the T-20 cricket extravaganza.
High-level Enforcement Directorate sources said apart from these cases, two other instances of suspected contravention of foreign exchange laws and hawala transactions are also being investigated by the central probe agency and these include investigations on the role of Modi.
Investigation in a third case of money laundering against the former cricket czar, sources said, is also "underway" which is related to the alleged misappropriation of funds in allotment of cricket media rights by BCCI in 2009.
"About 16 cases being probed under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) are in the final stages of adjudication, which means final orders for penalty will be served in the coming months against the accused which includes all the important functionaries of the IPL-BCCI including Modi.
"The cases amount to violations of an estimated Rs 1,600 crore and the the maximum penalty that can be slapped on the accused could be three times of this amount," a source said.
The agency, in February, had slapped a similar Rs 425 crore show-cause notice against Modi, former BCCI boss Srinivasan, the IPL, private multimedia firms for alleged contravention of forex laws in awarding a cricketing media rights contract in 2009.
The sources added that the money laundering case, registered early this year, has been filed by the agency based on an FIR filed by Srinivasan with Chennai police for suspected bungling of funds in awarding media rights for broadcasting BCCI-IPL cricket matches.
The agency sources said all the cases being probed against Modi and his associates in IPL-BCCI are related to various editions of the glamorous T-20 matches which were held in the country and specifically the second edition of the tournament which was held in South Africa in 2009.
Over the years, Modi and his team of lawyers have denied any wrongdoing in these instances.
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