Probe starts into fixing, betting scandal to exclude Pakistanis

KARACHI – The Indian Premier League Commissioner Lalit Modi has had a trail of failed ventures and defaults till four years back but has a lifestyle now that sees him having a private jet, a luxury yacht and a fleet of Mercedes S class and BMW cars all acquired in the last three years, according to reports appearing in the Indian media available here Monday.
A confidential and explosive report by the Indian income-tax department, that has been in the possession of the government for six months now, but formed the basis of any action only on Thursday evening after a raging controversy over secret ownerships and sweetheart deals in the Indian Premier League, or IPL, the reports added.
Modi, who played ugly role in keeping Pakistanis out of the IPL, was allegedly involved in betting and murky deals, according to Indian Income tax department.
Highly-placed sources in the IT department and the Congress party told an Indian newspaper ET that Modi has been on the government radar for quite sometime. The alleged opaqueness with which he conducted the multi-billion dollar cricket tournament and the manner in which he took on home minister P Chidambaram in 2009 seem to have resulted in a detailed enquiry into his activities by the IT department.
The report, the contents of which were described to ET reporters, paints a startling picture of the alleged activities of the controversial IPL commissioner, ranging from his manipulation of land deals in Rajasthan and the existence of a maze of companies and offshore entities payments and equity stakes worth billion of rupees. The report also makes the startling allegation that Modi - through his associates - was ‘involved’ in ‘betting’ while “insider information and outcome fixing of IPL matches were hinted at”.
The six-month-old report, which IT sleuths maintain is the basis of current investigations, is obviously referring to betting and insider information in the first two IPL tournaments, not the current one.
In preparing the report, investigators seem to have accessed his email account, confidential conversations on a UK-registered cell phone number and regulatory filings from across the globe, from Mauritius to Ireland to the US. Some other Indian cell phone numbers have also been unearthed which the IT sleuths claim Modi “keeps changing”. The report alleges that Modi is “apparently deeply embroiled in both generation of black money, money laundering, betting in cricket (match fixing of certain IPL matches)”.
An email sent to Lalit Modi remained unanswered on Sunday evening. His lawyer was also sent the same email. A number of his associates named in the report might come under the scanner as the investigation, which started with visits to Modi’s offices on Thursday evening, progresses through the coming weeks. Even though the report detailed the places the tax department wanted to raid and sought permission to go ahead, political clearance was not granted until junior minister for external affairs Shashi Tharoor stepped into IPL’s murky quicksand and with him dragged the government and the Congress party into one of the biggest scandals in recent times.
“This is not just a Pandora’s box but a Pandora’s chest that has been opened,” said a senior Congress leader who has knowledge of the report. “This will indict everyone,” he said, speaking on condition of anonymity. When contacted about the contents of this report, the official spokesperson of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), Shishir Jha, SMSed a terse ‘no comment’ to the ET reporter.

Source:http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/Sports/20-Apr-2010/Probe-starts-into-fixing-betting-scandal-to-exclude-Pakistanis