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Amanath Bank Case: Every penny of the depositors should be returned, says judge

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Amanath-Bank

Bengaluru: A single bench by Justice Nazir adjourned the Ama­nath Co-operative Bank trial on Thursday after the strong argument on the recovery of the depositors’ fund.

Bench also asked for meeting all the depositors before confirming on the conversion of the deposits to the share capital and recover the loss.

Every penny of the depositors should be returned, said the judge.

Rahmatullah Kotwal, Amanath Bank’s defense counsel, told Nasheman.in that 32 crores of the depositors’ money will be converted to share capital. He also said that if former Union Minister C.K. Jaffer Sharief, as part of his attempt to revive the loss-making bank, deposit Rs. 75 crore as share capital, then he will have the liberty to choose his own set of directors.

Lokayukta scam case: two more held

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Lokayukta scam

Bengaluru: Two more accused have been arrested by the Special Investigation Team in the Lokayukta bribery case in the state.

M B Srinivasa Gowda(30), a journalist and a partner of the Biriyani Adda chain in Bengaluru, and his associate Shankaregowda(35), an RTI activist are the arrested.

They were arrested from a hotel in Rajajinagar in the city. They are the second and third accused respectively, and are both natives of Kolar district. They were arrested as per the information given by second accused Ashok Kumar, a realtor, who was arrested by the SIT on Tuesday.

Sources said that both Srinivasa Gowda and Shankaregowda, were assigned to gather information about corrupt officials and inform Ashok Kumar. Ashok Kumar, in turn, would call officials to extort money from them, sources said.

The Special Investigation Team also issued a notice to Ashwin Y, son of Lokayukta Justice Y Bhaskar Rao, to appear in person before it within three days. Ashwin is the first accused in the extortion case.

Both the accused have been handed over to the SIT by Special Court Judge V G Bopaiah for interrogation till July 31 and were produced in the court by DCP Labhu Ram.

(Agencies)

SIT makes first arrest in Lokayukta scam

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Lokayukta scam

Bengaluru: Bangalore-based businessman Ashok Kumar was arrested and produced before the Lokayukta special court by the Special Investigation Team (SIT), who is investigating the case of corruption in anti-graft ombudsman, on Tuesday.

This is the first arrest made in the case.

The 30-year-old businessman, who is into real estate and sand transportation business, was the one who made calls to executive engineer M N Krishnamurthy of Bengaluru Zilla Panchayat.

As per the FIR registered against Ashwin (son of Lokayukta Justice Bhaskar Rao), the accused had called Krishnamurthy to the office of Lokayukta PRO Syed Riyas, saying that the Lokayukta wanted to see them. At the office, Ashwin introduced himself as Krishna Rao and demanded a bribe of Rs one crore to avoid a Lokayukta police raid.

However, Krishnamurthy had refused to pay and had orally complained about the incident to Bengaluru Urban Division SP Sonia Narang last May.

The investigation team found that Ashok, a resident of Rajajinagar, was the one who had talked to Krishnamurthy on phone.  Thus finding out, Ashok’s role in the particular case.

The special court sent Ashok to SIT custody for 10 days.

(Agencies)

Vyapam scam: Deaths of 25 accused 'natural', says Minister Babulal Gaur

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Babulal Gaur

Bhopal: Amid fresh Opposition demands for a CBI probe into the high-profile MPPEB scam in the wake of deaths of 25 accused and witnesses, Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Babulal Gaur today termed them as “natural” deaths and ruled out probe by the central agency into the scandal.

“All deaths are natural deaths,” Gaur said when asked about the deaths of so many people in the scam so far.

“The accused fell sick and died,” he said reiterating that all these are “natural” deaths. Two more accused in the Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board (MPPEB) scam, also known as Vyapam scam, died in Gwalior and Indore yesterday, adding another murky dimension to the massive scandal in which 25 accused and witnesses have died so far.

Referring to the Congress’ demand of handing over the probe to CBI, Gaur said that even Supreme Court had rejected the demand and added that the inquiry into the scam is presently going on under the strict monitoring of Madhya Pradesh High Court.

“There is no need for a CBI probe,” he said.

The death of 40-year-old Dr Rajendra Arya at Birla Hospital in Gwalior yesterday was reported after his condition suddenly deteriorated, while that of Narendra Singh Tomar (29) in Indore jail was under mysterious circumstances.

Arya, who reportedly held an MBBS degree, had allegedly helped two students clear Pre-Medical Tests (PMTs) conducted by MPPEB in 2007 and 2008, respectively.

Tomar, who was posted as Assistant Veterinary Officer at Raisen before being embroiled in the MPPEB scam, was an accused in the Pre-Medical Test conducted by MPPEB in 2009. Tomar was said to have arranged for impostors who had written the papers in place of genuine aspirants.

Three days back, the Special Investigating Team (SIT) probing the scandal had submitted to the MP High Court that 23 deceased in the MPPEB scam had died unnatural deaths so far. Some reports have claimed 40 such deaths.

The most high-profile death was that of Shailesh Yadav, son of Madhya Pradesh Governor Ram Naresh Yadav. Shailesh, 50, was found dead at his father’s residence in Mall Avenue area of Uttar Pradesh capital Lucknow on March 25 this year.

Ram Naresh Yadav, also a former chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, was himself made an accused in the MPPEB scam before getting relief from the court.

Vyapam scam is a massive admission and recruitment scandal involving politicians, bureaucrats and middlemen. Several politicians, including former education minister Laxmikant Sharma, a host of officials and scores of aspirants have been arrested in the case.

Accusing the chief minister of trying to cover up, Congress leader Digvijay Singh said the party has lost faith in the SIT appointed by the court.

“More than 41 people who were accused have died mysteriously. But unfortunately the Chief minister is trying to cover up and we are fighting the battle in court.

“We have lost total faith in the SIT appointed by the honourable High Court. They themselves have conveyed the helplessness to guide the STF investigation. So we have no option but to go to Supreme Court,” he said.

BJP leader Kailash Vijayarga said, “I have got to know that Narendra Tomar has committed suicide. Police is investigating the matter and it is true that it’s an abnormal death but I cannot ascertain the exact number of deaths of the people connected in the Vyapam Scam”.

BJP leader GVL Narasimha Rao said a large number of people have been arrested in the scam.

Vyapam Scam is one of the most extensive investigations that have been done in the country so far, he said.

“The Jabalpur HC had examined this matter several times and expressed complete trust in the investigation. The HC has constituted a special investigative team headed by a retired judge of High Court and there is a Special Task Force which is reporting to the SIT. It is one of the most robust investigations to get to the truth. Things like these will be certainly be taken cognisance of by the SIT,” Rao said.

Terming the way the case is being handled as very “saddening”, senior advocate Vivek Tankha said, “I haven’t seen such a scam in the whole world.

“The way in which this is being handled is very saddening. There is no confidence in the investigation and it is not going in the right direction. In a way we are witnessing the biggest cover up story of India. We are soon going to the Supreme Court. We will inform the SC about the two deaths that have taken place,” he said.

(PTI)

Maharashtra Minister Pankaja Munde accused of Rs 206 cr 'scam'

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Pankaja Munde

Mumbai: Maharashtra’s Women and Child Development Minister Pankaja Munde was in trouble today following allegations that she cleared purchases worth Rs 206 crore through 24 Government Resolutions on a single day instead of inviting tenders.

The alleged purchases relate to a host of items including snacks and books for children in institutions across the state.

Dubbing it as a “big scam”, Congress and other opposition parties attacked the 8-month-old BJP-led government headed by Devendra Fadnavis.

Former chief minister and Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan demanded a CBI inquiry and said the scam exposed the “true colours” of the government.

Asked if he would demand Munde’s resignation, Chavan said “Be it Pankaja Munde or Vinod Tawade (education minister caught in a row over educational qualification), this government would not remove anyone. After all, this the policy of the Modi government to brazen out all allegations.”

“The scam has exposed the real character of this government. The Minister (Munde) must give an explanation on the issue”, Chavan said.

The scam first came to light on June 15, when the office of Pankaja Munde received a letter from Ahmednagar Zila Parishad president Manjushree Gund complaining about the quality of chikki (a popular snack) distributed to tribal students under the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS). Gund said the chikki was contaminated with clay.

This is the first time that an alleged scam of this magnitude has come to light after the BJP-Shiv Sena government took office.

All purchases were cleared by Munde, daughter of BJP stalwart late Gopinath Munde on a single day on February 13 through 24 Government Resolutions (GR).

As per norms, all government purchases above Rs 3 lakh have to be done through e-tendering. Fadnavis has banned purchases through the rate contract system, in which material is purchased after rates have been negotiated.

Pankaja Munde was unavailable for comments. An official in her department said the minister was out of India and was expected to return on June 28.

Munde said her decision to check corruption had “troubled” some “money-minded” people and that she was not scared of such accusations.

For years the women and child development department had been neglected and was taken “less seriously”, she said, adding that “I as a minister (have) taken some dynamic decision to reduce currption…has also troubled some money minded bunch of ppl (sic) involved…I hv not broken any rules as far I m concerned n also not feared any allegations”.

Senior BJP leader and Maharashtra Minister Eknath Khadse, while responding to the allegations, said,”Opposition keeps on levelling charges. We don’t take them seriously until they submit proof.”

BJP spokesperson Shaina NC said the opposition had levelled allegations “to be in news”. “The opposition wants to be in news. If Munde has done anything, it should be substantiated with proof.”

Accusing BJP and the Centre of double-speak, Congress’ media department chief Randeep Surjewala said,”We hope that BJP and its government will seriously investigate the way they used to say ‘na khayenge, na khane denge’ and will provide a corruption-free government.

“We hope that they will, before 1.25 crore people of India, prove that they do what they say,” he said, adding “as layers and layers of corruption get unveiled, one leader after another of BJP is getting exposed. First it was the External Affairs Minister helping a fugitive of law and a black money hoarder, we also saw forged degrees of Irani and now….Pankaja Munde.”

(PTI)

CBI sniff 4,000 crore scam in Railways, to file case soon

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indian-railways

New Delhi: Sniffing a major scam of at least Rs 4,000 crore in the railways, CBI is likely to file a case soon into alleged under-reporting of the actual weight of loaded goods wagons through the manipulation of software by officials.

CBI sources said that in the financial year 2012-13, railways transported 1,008 million metric tonnes of freight and earned Rs 85,262 crore through it, which constituted 67 per cent of the total revenue for the period.

The goods are required to be weighed at the originating station or en route or at the destination point with a view to plugging the leakage of revenue and to avoid over-loading of the wagons, the sources said.

An official in CBI said inputs were received that this system has been manipulated at several places in such a way that over-loading is concealed and weight of the wagon is shown to be within the permissible limit.

“Highly sophisticated methodology of crime by manipulating the software of the system is suspected,” the official said.

The sources said it is further suspected that the alleged manipulation has been done through collusion amongst railway officials, private vendors and freight operators.

“Even a 5 per cent under-reporting of actual weight of freight leads to a difference of Rs 4,263 crore by 2012-13 figures… It is not only causing huge financial loss to the exchequer but also (bringing) corresponding gain to private freight operators and is damaging railway tracks and wagons, thus adversely affecting railway safety,” an official said.

Railways had in consultation with Research Development and Standards Organisation (RDSO) installed 200 ‘Electronic In-Motion Weigh Bridges’ at various locations across the country to weigh the freight in transit.

Six vendors have been roped in by RDSO for setting up the bridges, which automatically measure the weight of goods train wagons passing through them at a speed of 15-km per hour, CBI sources said.

The agency recently carried out countrywide searches and surprise checks at major freight traffic points with the assistance of the vigilance department of the railways, CBI sources said.

The surprise checks were undertaken in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Jharkhand, Assam, West Bengal, Odisha, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Goa, Rajasthan and Gujarat, etc.

During the surprise operation, CBI found “systematic” under-weighing with the system programmed to give readings which were lower than the actual weight.

“It was found at some of the locations that the quantum of under-weighing increased with an increase in speed of the rake. The preliminary digital analysis of the forensic image taken at some of the locations has revealed old weighing logs showing past manipulations in weighing,” a CBI official said.

He said alleged manipulations in entries pertaining to wagon type have been revealed with consequences for the weighing.

“Systematic manipulation in weighing achieved through tampering of the software, EIMWB hardware, manual entries, etc. leads to significant loss of revenue for the railways,” he said.

CBI has already secured the locations of the in-motion weighing bridges to prevent the possibility of tampering, the sources said.

They said that test runs were conducted with rakes comprising freight wagons carrying different loads to check the accuracy of the readings. Besides, the ‘in-motion’ weighing was also done at different speeds.

CBI secured a forensic image of the hard disk of the weighing system to enable a digital forensic analysis for locating the ‘digital fingerprints’ (automatic weight logs, etc.) of past manipulation in weighing.

(PTI)

Satyam case: Ramalinga Raju, nine others get seven-year jail

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Ramalinga Raju

Hyderabad: A special CBI court on Thursday sentenced B. Ramalinga Raju, his two brothers and seven others to seven years in prison in the multi-crore-rupee Satyam case, India’s biggest corporate fraud.

The court also imposed over Rs.5 crore fine each on 60-year-old Ramalinga Raju, the Satyam Computer Services Ltd’s founder and former chairman, and his brother B. Rama Raju and up to Rs.50 lakh each on the remaining accused, CBI counsel K. Surender said.

“Various sentences ranging from two years to seven years were imposed on all the accused but all the sentences would run concurrently. That is the reason the maximum sentence is seven years which they have to serve,” he told reporters.

The other accused are Ramalinga Raju’s another brother, B. Suryanarayana Raju, Satyam’s former chief financial officer Vadlamani Srinivas, former PricewaterhouseCoopers auditors Subramani Gopalakrishnan and T. Srinivas, former employees G. Ramakrishna, D. Venkatpathi Raju and Ch. Srisailam, and Satyam’s former internal chief auditor V.S. Prabhakar Gupta.

Police were making arrangements for all the convicts to serve their sentences in Cherlapally Jail here.

Special Judge B.V.L.N. Chakravarthi of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court announced the quantum of punishment in the afternoon, hours after pronouncing all the accused guilty on various counts.

The much-awaited judgement in the packed court hall came in the presence of Ramalinga Raju and all the other accused.

The judge did not take into account the plea by the convicts for leniency in the punishment on grounds of their age, health and the problems faced by their families.

The accused told the judge that they have already spent more than two years in jail.

Ramalinga Raju, the main accused, also sought leniency on the ground of social service he had done in the past.

“They told the honourable judge that they and their families have faced a lot of hardships due to the case. They also brought to his notice that there was no loss to people (due to the fraud),” said Venkateswara Rao, one of the defence lawyers.

The CBI, however, sought maximum punishment, citing it as the biggest corporate fraud in the country and also on the ground of huge losses caused to the investors.

The scam came to light on January 7, 2009 when Ramalinga Raju confessed that the company’s account books and profits were inflated over many years to the tune of several crores of rupees.

Police arrested him two days later on a complaint by some shareholders.

The CBI, which took up investigation in February 2009, put the loss to the shareholders at Rs.14,000 crore.

The investigating agency also charged Raju with gaining Rs.2,500 crore by selling his family shares in Satyam.

Raju was charged with floating several front companies to buy land with the scam money. He was arrested by Andhra Pradesh Police on January 9, 2009.

The CBI filed three chargesheets against Raju and the other accused, charging them with cheating, criminal conspiracy, forgery, falsification of accounts and breach of trust.

The disgraced IT czar, who even shared the dais with then US president Bill Clinton during the latter’s visit to Hyderabad, spent nearly 32 months in jail.

Raju, who was released on bail in 2011, later retracted his confession and contended that all the charges levelled against him were false.

After the scam, Tech Mahindra took over Satyam Computers in a government-sponsored auction. Mahindra Satyam later merged with Tech Mahindra.

An economic offences court on December 8 last year sentenced Ramalinga Raju and three others to six months imprisonment in six of the seven cases filed by the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO).

(IANS)

Amanath Bank Case: "No guilty person will go scot-free," says HC

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Amanath-Bank

Bengaluru:The High Court on Monday observed that those who are guilty of the financial crisis of the Amanath Co-operative Bank Ltd will not be allowed to go scot-free.

While hearing a batch of petitions filed by bank account holders of Amanath Bank, Justice S Abdul Nazeer observed that the persons responsible for the crisis will be punished in accordance with law.

The case on Monday focused on how to recover the dues and loans advanced by the bank. The chorus of dozens of depositors who were present in court was to hand over the case to the CBI. The court asked for submission of the list of depositors to be submitted by the managing director of the bank.

The court was told that action was initiated to recover Rs 48 crore of dues and notices were issued to defaulters.

Justice S Abdul Nazeer asked the bank to recover the amount due from debtors/borrowers as far as possible by June 9, the next date of hearing. “No guilty person will go scot-free,” the judge said when a depositor broke down in the court. He said if necessary, a CID or CBI probe will be ordered to nail the culprits.

(Agencies)

Sahara chief Subrata Roy's get-out-of-jail deal mired in mystery

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A file photo of Sahara chief Subrata Roy

A file photo of Sahara chief Subrata Roy

New York/Mumbai: Subrata Roy, the boss of the Sahara conglomerate, who has been in a Delhi prison on contempt-of-court charges since March last year needs to post $1.6 billion (Rs 10,000 crore) in bail to get out. To help raise the money, Sahara is in talks to refinance its overseas hotels, including New York’s Plaza.

The only problem: It’s unclear if the man who’s orchestrating the deal, a 34-year-old former broker named Saransh Sharma, has the money to pull it off.

Sahara’s head of corporate finance, Sandeep Wadhwa, said Sahara’s lawyers had verified with Bank of America that Mr Sharma has deposited just over $1 billion (Rs 6,250 crore) in an account at the bank that is “earmarked for the said transaction.”

That account, however, doesn’t appear to exist. A manager at the bank told Reuters that he didn’t write a crucial document attributed to him: an email, sent in his name to Sahara, which purported to verify the account’s existence. After Reuters asked the bank to look into the account, spokeswoman Jumana Bauwens issued a statement saying: “Bank of America isn’t involved in the transaction.”

What’s more, Mr Sharma, who lives in San Jose, California, has admitted to stealing a database from a former employer. There are also two pending lawsuits against him, alleging he forged a letter and produced fake documents to obtain a loan.

Bank of America’s assertion that it has nothing to do with the deal, as well as details about Mr Sharma’s past, could throw a wrench into Sahara’s efforts to free Mr Roy, who is at Tihar jail, the largest in India, on contempt charges for failing to comply with a court order to repay investors in a bond scheme later ruled to be illegal.

The bail amount, the largest ever in India, reflects the cost of the illegal scheme, estimated by Indian regulators to be as much as $7 billion or Rs 43,750 crore.

Mr Sharma told Reuters he is backed by a group of U.S. and U.K. investors for the refinancing and that the funds in the account have come from them. Both he and Sahara declined to identify the investors.

Sahara’s businesses range from financial services to media, retail and real estate. The company used to sponsor the Indian cricket team, which helped to make it a household name in the country. During his heyday, Mr Roy, 66, socialized with presidents and film stars.

Sahara’s troubles started in 2011 when it was found by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), the market regulator, to have illegally sold billions of dollars of bonds to investors. After a legal battle that reached the Supreme Court, Sahara was ordered to refund investors the money.

The Supreme Court threw Mr Roy in jail last March after he failed to appear at a contempt hearing related to the dispute with the regulator. Sahara has said that it has repaid most investors, a claim SEBI has disputed.

Since Mr Roy’s imprisonment, Sahara has been trying to raise cash. It has been reporting its progress to the court and regulators, and needs approvals from them to do these transactions. ($1 = Rs 62.50)

(Reuters)

Scam in power meter purchase: State government ready for probe

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Vidhana Soudha

Bengaluru: The Opposition BJP has succeeded in making the government agree for an inquiry into reported violation in purchase of electricity meters.

On Wednesday, the state government agreed to initiate an inquiry by Additional Chief Secretary of the Finance Department into charges made by the BJP in the Legislative Council that Bescom had violated Karnataka Transparency in Public Procurement (KTPP) Act norms in purchase of electricity metres.

Making the announcement in the Council, Leader of the House and Information Technology Minister S R Patil said that the inquiry would be completed and the report submitted within three months.

The BJP on Tuesday had raised the issue in the House, stating that Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (Bescom), in August 2013, had given contract to a Kolkata-based company for purchase of electricity meters worth Rs 180 crore without calling tenders. This was in violation of KTPP Act norms.

Patil said the government had already cancelled the tenders and fresh tenders had been called for purchase of meters. Patil said ordering a Lokayukta probe would send a wrong message that all officials in the department were corrupt.

The Additional Chief Secretary of the Finance Department would conduct the inquiry and submit report, Patil said. Following the minister’s statement, the BJP members withdrew their dharna.

(Agencies)

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