Srini records statement before ED in Modi case
Former Indian cricket board president, N Srinivasan, recorded his statement before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday in a money laundering case where former IPL commissioner Lalit Modi allegedly received kickbacks.
Srinivasan, the cur rent International Cricket Council (ICC) chairman, visited the ED office in Mumbai at around 11am and recorded his statement for nearly four hours. The former BCCI chief, who is the complainant in the case, has alleged financial misappropriation in allotting media rights. The ED had probed allegations that the media rights were first awarded to the Mauritius-based World Sports Group (WSG), then the Singapore-based Multi-Screen Media Satellite (MSM).
The probe found that MSM was made to pay ` 425 crore to WSG for relinquishing rights, though in reality WSG had no such agreement with BCCI and consequently had no right over the media contract. “A case was registered by the Chennai police and subsequently a case against Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) was registered by us. For a PMLA case, an FIR is necessary to be filed somewhere,” said a high-ranking ED officer. “Srinivasan gave an account over the allegations in the case.”
As per the allegations, the WSG held the international television, global radio, mobile and internet rights for the IPL till the end of season 10. However, the BCCI alleges that Modi coerced Sony, the official broadcasters, into believing that WSG Mauritius held the rights for IPL. As a result, the reworked deal between Multi Screen Media, the parent company of Sony, and WSG India was allegedly illegal.
In 2010, Srinivasan had approached Chennai Police and submitted a 25-page complaint listing out the alleged frauds committed by Modi. The complaint is against Modi and six others. Modi was sacked as IPL commissioner in 2010 and barred from holding any position in the BCCI two years ago following a disciplinary committee ruling against him. ED officials have travelled to Singapore to pursue the case.