2G scam: CBI gives clean chit to Anil Ambani

The CBI, which was probing the role of RADAG Chairman Anil Ambani in the 2G scam, has given him a clean chit in the structuring of different companies and transfer of funds in relation to Swan Telecom which got a spectrum licence.
The agency which submitted its status report to the Supreme Court on September 29, said that the investigation did not reveal any evidence either oral or documentary to inculpate Mr. Anil Ambani in the structuring of different companies and transfer of funds.
The CBI was filing its responses to a note filed by the petitioner Prashant Bhushan in which he had sought to create a  wrong impression about the fairness and impartial nature of its investigations.
Bhushan had also alleged that it was incredible that three employees could have created a complicated mess of companies so as to cover up Swan's real ownership and taken Rs. 1,000 crore of company money without the approval of the Chairman of the Board.
The CBI at the time of filing of applications to the Department of Telecom (DoT) for Universal Access Services (UAS) licences, the share holders of M/s Swan Telecom Pvt Ltd included M/s Tiger Traders Pvt Ltd (91.1%) and M/s Reliance Telecom Ltd (9.1%).
The share holders of M/s Tiger Traders Ltd included two companies namely M/s Zebra Consultants Pvt Ltd and M/s Parrot Consultant Pvt Ltd. All these three companies were holding each other in an inter-locking structure. Fund invested by M/s Tiger Traders Pvt Ltd in Swan Telecom Pvt Ltd were ultimately sourced from M/s ADAE Ventures Pvt Ltd.
The agency said Ambani and his wife Tina were original promoters of M/s AAA  Consultancy and M/s ADAR Ventures Pvt Ltd. However, Anil and his wife had transferred the shareholding of this company to all the above stated companies during March-April 2006, almost one year before the applications when Swan Co. applied for licence to DoT for 13 UAS licences.
On another issue related to a statement by an ICICI bank official that a cheque of Rs. 10 crore required an approval of Ambani and his wife. CBI said the observation was a distorted one as the bank official's statement mentioned that Ambani and his wife were signatories to the bank accounts of Tiger Traders, Swan Telecom, ADAE Ventures and AAA Consultancy Services since incorporation of these companies till relevant period for amounts more than Rs. 10 crore.
The investigation had revealed that they had not issued any bank instrument including the cheque, RTGS advice, transfer request etc which is relevant in the case.
News reported for News vision by AR

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