Fresh ED notice to BCCI

Mumbai: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday issued a showcause notice to the BCCI for alleged foreign exchange violations in acceptance of deposits of Rs. 60 crore for award of contract for conducting the second season of the Indian Premier League.

ED sources said investigation has revealed that the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) contraventions were committed by BCCI in accepting deposits of Rs. 20 crore from Emerging Media Sporting Holdings Ltd. UK (bidding for IPL franchise Rajasthan Royals) and Rs. 40 crore from MSM Satellite (Singapore) Pvt. Ltd. (bidding for TV broadcast contract).

The notices have been issued to former IPL commissioner Lalit Modi, BCCI president N Srinivasan, former BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah and the HDFC Bank.

The showcause notice relates to the alleged foreign exchange violations in acceptance of deposits of Rs 60 crore.

In addition to imposition of penalties, the showcause notice also proposes confiscation of these deposits of Rs. 60 crore.

IPL-2 was held in South Africa after the venue was shifted from India. There have been allegations of ill-gotten money flowing into the T20 tournament from foreign tax heavens.

Earlier, Minister of State for Finance SS Palanimanickam had told the Lok Sabha last Wednesday that ED had issued 12 showcause notices to BCCI and its officials for contraventions of foreign exchange laws involving Rs. 1423.20 crore.

He had said 11 showcause notices involving an amount of Rs. 1317.20 crore in the year 2011 and one notice involving Rs. 106 crore in the 2012 had been issued by the anti-money laundering agency in this regard.

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