A special court on Friday framed charges against former telecom minister A Raja, Rajya Sabha MP K Kanimozhi, DMK chief M Karunanidhi’s wife Dayalu Ammal and sixteen others in connection with the alleged 2G money laundering case. Special Judge O P Saini, while putting the 19 accused on trial, said, “I find that there is enough material on record to make out or to presume a prima facie case against each accused for committing an offence of money laundering as defined under Section 3 and punishable under Section 4 of the Act.” Stating that there are “factual” and “credible allegations” against each of the accused, the judge put on trial Raja, Kanimozhi, Ammal, Swan Telecom promoters Shahid Usman Balwa and Vinod Kumar Goenka, Kalaignar TV MD Sharad Kumar and director P Amirtham, directors of Kusegaon Fruits and Vegetables Pvt Ltd Asif Balwa and Rajiv Agarwal and Bollwood producer Karim Morani. The court has also framed charges against nine companies on trial. The court ruled that Raja “in connivance” with Ammal, Kanimozhi and Sharad Kumar, was involved in parking the illegal gratification of Rs 200 crore received from Shahid U Balwa and Vinod K Goenka in Kalaignar TV. The court also observed that the link between movement back of the proceeds of the crime (Rs 223.55 crore) to Dynamix Realty, and the arrest of Raja by the CBI “clearly reveals” his role and “active participation”. While charging Kanimozhi, the court said, “Kanimozhi knowingly facilitated and was actually involved in the process of generation and layering of the proceeds of crime and in projection of it as untainted property.” The court also observed that the entities involved in the money transaction, from DB group company to Kalaignar TV through Kusegaon Fruits and Vegetables Pvt Ltd and Cineyug Films Pvt Ltd, showed a “knee jerk” reaction to return it after Raja was contacted by the CBI during its probe into the 2G scam. Stating that proceeds of crime amount to Rs 223.5 crore, the court said, “It is revealed.that to show the transfer as legitimate, this amount of Rs 200 crore, in fact, was layered with additional funds.” The court also observed that proceeds of crime, which was generated because of “actions taken” by Raja, was ultimately parked with Kalaignar TV under the cover of transfer of varying amounts of funds through agreements/ MoUs relating to equity participation/ loan among a chain of inter-linked companies. All accused have pleaded not guilty and have said that they will go on trial.
