Malaysia to cooperate with India over Aircel-Maxis kickback claims: KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 11 — Putrajaya has agreed to cooperate with Delhi in its corruption investigation linking Malaysian tycoon T. Ananda Krishnan to India’s former telecommunications minister Dayanidhi Maran and his brother, Kalanithi Maran, over Maxis Berhad’s controversial acquisition of the subcontinent’s Aircel, the Times of India reported today. The Malaysian government’s assurance appears to be a huge relief for India’s Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which had been desperately seeking information to prosecute Dayanidhi, without success, for the past one year over allegations he and his media mogul brother, Kalainidhi, had received Rs547 crore or 5.47 billion rupees (RM280 million) in kickbacks for the Maxis-Aircel deal. According to the Indian newspaper, the CBI had in July told India’s Supreme Court that it had wrapped up its investigation but was unable to prepare a chargesheet for over one year because of non-cooperation from Malaysian authorities. Indian investigators have been seeking the bank details of Ananda, the tycoon who controls the Malaysian telecommunications giant, and popularly known by his initials, AK. “Since then, a series of news reports were appearing in media here and lately in Malaysia. The Embassy officials met the director on the issue and have assured full cooperation,” an unnamed senior official with India’s CBI was quoted as saying. A three-member team had met CBI director Ranjit Sinha today and expressed displeasure over the Indian agency’s claims that Malaysia has not been cooperating in the case, the Times of India reported. The CBI had filed the graft case on October 10, 2011 against Ananda, who controls Southeast Asia’s largest multimedia and telecommunications empire; Ralph Marshall, who is a non-executive director at Maxis; and the Marans, for allegedly coercing Aircel owner C. Sivasankaran to sell his stake to Maxis. Ananda is said to own a 74 per cent stake in Aircel — India’s fifth biggest telecommunications player — through Maxis Communications which also has a 70 per cent stake in Malaysia’s telecommunications giant, Maxis Berhad. The 75-year-old telecommunications, media and property tycoon is reported to be worth US$11.7 billion (RM38.3 billion), as at March this year and is ranked by Forbes as Southeast Asia’s second-richest man behind former sugar baron, Tan Sri Robert Kuok, who is the world’s 82th. The CBI has also alleged that Ananda’s satellite broadcaster Astro All Asia Networks’ (Astro) “highly inflated” purchase of shares in Sun Direct TV contributed hundreds of millions of ringgit in illegal gratification to the Marans who denied Aircel seven licences and other facilities, forcing Sivasankaran to sell a 74 per cent stake to Maxis. Several Indian newspapers had previously reported the CBI telling India’s courts that it has completed the domestic investigations into the deal but the overseas probe was being delayed due to the influence of the firm’s owner in Malaysia who is “powerful politically”. Both Dayanidhi and Maxis have denied any wrongdoing, with the latter insisting its RM2.5 billion purchase of the Aircel stake from Sivasankaran was on a willing-buyer, willing-seller basis and the Indian businessman retained a 26 per cent holding to gain “upside benefits” should the company be floated. Maxis had said that Sivasankaran only complained to the CBI after his claims were dismissed by international arbitrators earlier this year, more than five years after the deal was done on December 30, 2005. Astro also told the CBI that its purchase of 20 per cent of Sun TV was a legitimate transaction between two long-standing business partners who have had dealings since 1996. The probe was earlier confined to Malaysia and Mauritius in connection with the routing of funds for the Aircel takeover but the money trail later led CBI to other countries including the United Kingdom and Bermuda. The four countries were sent letters of requests from India asking them to provide financial documents related to the Maxis-Aircel deal. dlvr.it/3xkwGw
Posted on: Wed, 11 Sep 2013 09:28:53 +0000
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