News X deal: CBI now says Indrani Mukerjea, Peter made less than Rs 10 lakh

Watch What Else Is Making News

“The News X deal was thoroughly probed and even the report filed by the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO), Mumbai, was studied for alleged irregularities in the deal. While the sale of News X does not concern our probe, our aim of probing the deal was to ascertain if the couple made any money while exiting the company and was it in any way linked to the murder. The probe has revealed that the couple held a stake of only around 5 per cent in the company and had quit the company within two years of its formation when the company was still bleeding. So they haven’t made much out of the deal. They made less than Rs 10 lakh,” said a senior official.

“Peter worked with Star TV for a little over a decade. During his stint as the CEO of the channel, he drew a salary of around Rs 7 crore and that over a period has amounted to substantial savings. Even Indrani’s recruitment firm was doing well and she too had made a considerable amount through the HR agency. Together, the couple’s net worth was around Rs 150 to Rs 160 crore and this was mainly through salaries and the recruitment firm. With Peter’s employer taking care of all his necessities, he managed to save a large chunk of his salary, which itself would be around Rs 590 crore,” said the official.

While the CBI suspects that Sheena Bora held no foreign accounts, they are waiting for a response to the Letters Rogatory (LRs) sent to Singapore, Hong Kong and the United States of America. “While we have sought information from Singapore and Hong Kong on the accounts, LRs to USA have been sent to obtain details on the emails exchanged between the accused and main witness Rahul Mukerjea, Peter’s younger son and Bora’s fiance. Some of the emails were sent by Indrani impersonating as Bora to Rahul in which ‘Sheena’ wrote about moving on in life and settling with a rich boy from Nagpur in the US. However, the probe has indicated that these emails were sent by Indrani from UK. If the USA-based service provider also endorses that, it will act as a major evidence in the case,” said the official.

Meanwhile, efforts by Peter to sell his flat in an upmarket neighbourhood in Worli has been stalled after Indrani sent a letter to the housing society objecting to the gift deed executed by her daughter Vidhie. The flat was gifted by her mother and stepfather Peter in 2011, which she in turn gifted to her stepbrother Rabin (Peter’s elder son) in January last year. The flat was said to be worth Rs 7.5 crore. “After Indrani learnt about the same, she wrote to the society stating that the property cannot be sold without her consent as the gift deed to Vidhie states that she (Indrani) enjoys the right to continue to reside in the flat during her lifetime without any hindrance… She had challenged the gift deed executed by Vidhie as hindrance to her rights,” said a family source.

“The flat is worth Rs 20 crore and therefore the gift deed was not executed on the market value of the property. Even though a buyer showed interest in purchasing the flat for the market value , the deal never took off after Indrani objected to it,” said the source.

Mihir Gheewala, counsel for Peter Mukerjea, told The Indian Express that the CBI claims on the News X deal were malafide. “The couple held a small stake in the company, which they gave up within a couple of years and exited the company. The money has been accounted and never has any financial agencies raised any red flags on the disclosure made by the court. No part of this amount has been remitted abroad as claimed by the CBI and therefore the entire theory was made up to build a false case against peter,” he said.

Messages and calls to Indrani’s counsel did not yield any response.