Madhu Koda aide sings, many may feel heat

Pradeep Thakur, TNN, Mar 20, 2010, 03.13am IST
NEW DELHI: Mumbai-based bullion trader Manoj Punamia, who seems to hold the key in the multi-crore Koda scam investigation, has started to sing before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on his business partners in a development that is sure to cause anxiety to some top Jharkhand politicians and may unravel mysteries behind many alleged political kickbacks. 

In a major boost to the investigations, Punamia gave some vital information to ED officials during his seven-and-half-hour questioning on Thursday (March 18) at the agency's Delhi office. He had already been questioned twice last week. 

Sources said he will appear for questioning on Monday before Income Tax (I-T) authorities in Mumbai and again at the ED's Delhi office on Tuesday. The documentary evidence being provided by Punamia and his cooperation in getting other individuals to appear before the investigators for cross-examination is seen as a major breakthrough that will help authorities wind up the probe. 

Sleuths have also summoned executives from a leading law firm based in Sweden to the ED's Delhi office on Wednesday for their cross-examination in connection with a payment received from Punamia worth $15,000. 

When contacted, Punamia told TOI that he had made himself available to ED and I-T officials and would assist them in their probe. He said he was ready to share everything that was required by the investigators and had nothing to hide. "All my businesses have come to a halt and banks are keeping a distance when all that I have done is through banking transactions," he claimed. 

The team from Sweden's law firm is coming in connection with an investment made by firms in which Punamia was one of the directors. About $15,000 was sent to the law firm in question to set up a business entity in Sweden. Officials are trying to ascertain if any other transaction had taken place from the company which was purportedly being set up at the behest of some Indian politicians. 

Last week, Punamia had appeared before ED for two days — March 11 and 12 — and had recorded his statement in the money laundering case. Some other key accused in the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) case, registered against former Jharkhand CM Madhu Koda and three of his former Cabinet colleagues, are still absconding and arrest warrants have been issued against them. 

While a close associate of Koda, Binod Sinha, is absconding and is believed to be hiding somewhere in the country, another close aide Sanjay Choudhary, who was director in many of the firms linked in the scam, has fled to Dubai. 

One of the tainted firms, Balaji Universal Trade, had transacted Rs 640 crore in the Union Bank of India at its Zaveri Bazar branch between November 2006 and December 2008 which was perceived by investigators as circular trading and it was alleged that part of this money was transferred to some foreign jurisdictions through hawala channels.

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