ED to seek details on Lalit Modi’s financial transactions from 3 countries

NEW DELHI: The Enforcement Directorate, which is probing charges of money laundering against former IPL commissioner Lalit Modi, has decided to send letters rogatory to three countries, seeking information on financial transactions and the private companies involved, officials said. The countries include Mauritius, Singapore and UK. A letter rogatory is a request from a court to a foreign court for some judicial assistance.

ED had slapped a case under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) against Modi in 2013 following an FIR filed by Chennai police in 2010. The case did not progress much, however, as the state police could not carry out detailed investigations. “They only supplied statements of some witnesses but no details of investigations were shared with us,” said a senior ED official.

The decision to send letters rogatory to the three countries was taken after a meeting called by ED director Rajan Katoch with officials from Mumbai and Chennai.

The case dates back to 2010, when on the complaint of the then Board of Control for Cricket in India ( BCCI) secretary N Srinivasan, Chennai police had filed a case against Modi and others. ED later registered a case under the stringent PMLA and accused Modi of cheating and misappropriating funds to the tune of Rs 470 crore. Under money laundering investigations, the agency can tighten the noose around Modi, who has been staying in London and avoiding interrogation.

The criminal investigations against Modi will also help the government exert diplomatic pressure for Modi’s questioning and challenge the Delhi High Court order of revoking his passport, said officials.

Under PMLA, ED can identify and seize the assets bought from the illgotten money. The agency is treading cautiously, though, after its attempts to seek information on financial transactions under the Foreign Exchange

Management Act suffered a setback. ED sent a civil letter of request to United Kingdom, Mauritius, Cyprus and Isle of Man between 2011 and 2013.