‘Nothing illegal about Vivek Nagpal’s business’
Former IPL commissioner Lalit Modi’s attempts to malign various people during the past few weeks are now being seen in different circles as rants of a frustrated entrepreneur given that he has not been able to substantiate any of the charges with evidence. “If Modi has some incriminating documents, why is he not coming out with them? His main target is former BCCI president N. Srinivasan, but so far he has not been able to produce even a single piece of paper that shows criminality on his part,” an official said.
Finance Ministry bureaucrats feel that many allegations made by Lalit Modi have no truth. “He has been dragging everyone into this by making wild charges. His aim appears to be settling personal scores,” an official said.
Some days ago, Lalit Modi alleged that the Delhi based businessman Vivek Nagpal was a hawala racketeer and had illegitimate foreign bank accounts. However government officials have stated that Nagpal, as per their records, does not own any illegitimate foreign bank accounts unknown to the Indian authorities. “We had sent him a notice in July 2013 asking him details about his financial details since 1997, which he had duly submitted. Nothing illegitimate was found with his business,” the official added. According to officials, the cases that were filed by the Enforcement Directorate against him were also settled long ago.Officials denied that Nagpal had invested in any tax haven countries and said that it appeared that he, like others, was being targeted by Lalit Modi on the behalf of his business rivals by linking him to a functionary of the Rashtrapati Bhawan. It was an effort to create sensation for the sake of it. Officials added that even Nagpal’s call detail records (CDRs) were illegally procured by his competitors. “He was a victim, not the perpetrator as some people have been speculating in the CDR procuring scandal,” said the official.Similarly, Lalit Modi’s recent allegations that BJP MP Feroze Varun Gandhi had personally met him in London allegedly to strike a deal on behalf of Congress presi- dent Sonia Gandhi have also found no takers. “He (Modi) has been claiming that he has video records of this alleged deal, but why has he not released them? The whole thing is unbelievable given the sour relations between the families of Indira Gandhi’s two sons. Lalit Modi is losing his credibility even more”, it was pointed out. According to officials, Lalit Modi’s main target was former BCCI president, N. Srinivasan.