Everything but cricket

Sources inside the cricket association say that the total embezzlement in JKCA bank accounts detected so far ranges between Rs 20 and 25 crore. Incidentally,the JKCA has no record of how much money it has received from the BCCI since 1996. JKCA chairman Mohammad Aslam Goni has now sought details from the BCCI.

History: Questions are being raised on the very appointment of Mirza as treasurer to replace Mukhtar Kanth in 2004-2005. Kanth had resigned reportedly because of internal intrigue that didn’t let him function. While Mir Manzoor Gazanfar was elected honorary treasurer in the 2006 polls,Mirza continued to officiate as the treasurer. This was because a day after the 2006 JKCA elections,a petition was filed in a court seeking an injunction against the operation of Gazanfar as treasurer. Following this,letters sent to banks by Farooq in his capacity as JKCA president verified Mirza’s signature as that of the treasurer for the purposes of operation of the cricket body’s accounts.

Alleged money laundering:It was during the period that Mirza was acting as the JKCA treasurer without being elected to the post (2008-09) that the alleged money laundering took place. Farooq says that Rs 1.90 crore withdrawn by Mirza from the JKCA accounts was part of the cash refunded to him against interest-free loans provided by Mirza,a carpet exporter,to the JKCA from time to time when its bank accounts were frozen by a court in the wake of the plea against Gazanfar. Farooq had apparently allowed Mirza to raise loans against the JKCA’s fixed deposit receipts in 2008 so that he could get back his money. Former general secretary M L Nehru contradicts this,saying money had been repaid to already.

Modus operandi: As per sources,Mirza with the help of Khan continued raising loans against the JKCA’s FDRs even when he had got his money back. They opened an account in the name of the JKCA,allegedly without anybody’s knowledge,in Jammu and Kashmir Bank’s Air Cargo branch,where the association already had an account. Another account was opened in the bank’s Khanyar branch. While part of the funds received from the BCCI were deposited into the original bank accounts,the rest were converted into FDRs. Against these FDRs,Mirza and Khan raised loans,which were deposited in JKCA’s other,“secret” accounts. It is alleged,the money was diverted to Mirza’s account.

Farooq’s letter: A letter authorising Mirza to operate the JKCA bank accounts and verifying his signatures was issued by Farooq two months after the April 2006 elections. The letter informed the Jammu and Kashmir Bank and State Bank of India branches maintaining the accounts of the JKCA about the election of Farooq as president,Mehboob Iqbal as chairman,Khan as honorary general secretary and Mir Manzoor Gazanfar as honorary treasurer of the state cricket body.

Pointing out that as per JKCA rules,its bank accounts were to be operated under the joint signatures of the treasurer with either the honorary general secretary or the chairman,the letter read: “Now since the Hon’ble Court of Law has stayed the appointment of honorary treasurer till the case is disposed of by the court,therefore the following resolution has been passed that Ahsan Ahmad Mirza,ex-treasurer,will continue to function as honorary treasurer.” While the accounts could have been run with joint signatures of treasurer and honorary general secretary or chairman,Farooq verified signatures of only Khan and Mirza. The letter did not carry Iqbal’s signature.

The Defence: With questions being raised about how Farooq could have remained clueless to the scam,Goni puts the blame on Khan and Mirza. The JKCA president and chairman have no authority except to chair meetings and all official communiqués pertaining to even funds from the BCCI are addressed to the general secretary,he said. It is the general secretary who gives funds so received to the treasurer and the latter has to apprise him of the operation of bank accounts on a monthly basis,Goni says. However,Farooq may find it difficult to wash his hands of as both Mirza and Khan are known to be close to him.

Farooq’s tenure: He was first elected as JKCA president in 1978-79 and continued to hold the post till 1997 when Ajastshatru Singh,tourism minister in his Cabinet,became president of the JKCA. He was replaced by Farooq in 2002 JKCA elections and since then,Farooq has been occupying the post.