Koda man was eyeing SEZ for Rs 4800 cr

NEW DELHI: The scale of the "great Jharkhand scam" is becoming bigger by the day. Investigators tracking alleged money laundering by Madhu Koda have found documents that show that one of the frontmen of the former chief minister was in a serious negotiation to acquire an SEZ in Noida for a staggering Rs 4,800 crore, to be paid in euros.

Officials of Income Tax and Enforcement Directorate are still trying to ascertain the source of money that was kept in euro denomination, amounting to around 70 crore euros.

Sources said Mumbai-based Manoj Punamia was negotiating with officials in Uttar Pradesh. Investigators are yet to acquire details about the modalities of the transactions and who on behalf of the UP government was negotiating with Punamia or whether a third party was involved.



Punamia is familiar to investigators, having been identified as the person behind transfer of $110 million to one Abdul Bhai in Dubai through hawala and legal channels. His premises were among the 70-odd places that were searched by I-T and ED officials on Saturday.

The size of the alleged deal can help better estimate the amount of money that changed hands as the chief minister and his associates awarded high-value mining leases to industrialists and their own contacts.

Sources said a chartered accountant. Naredi, hired by Binod Sinha, the most trusted of Koda's allies, has admitted to having invested Rs 50 crore in concerns here and abroad for the Koda cartel.

Naredi said he had shown the amount as having been loaned from unsecured creditors in different firms Binod Sinha had floated.

I-T and ED officials, satisfied with the progress of investigation, questioned a "seriously ill" Koda on his hospital bed in Ranchi. They also served summons on him to appear before ED for questioning on November 11.