2G probe: Swan trail now leads to Switzerland.



 
The CBI probe into the 2G spectrum scandal received a shot in the arm with the arrival of a voluminous set of documents from Mauritius on the ownership pattern and money trails of around 15 companies under the scanner. 





Officials said that the documents were received by the agency two days ago through diplomatic channels and were currently under scrutiny. In all, five packets of documents have been received following an order passed by the island nation's Attorney General that all information sought by the CBI in their Letter Rogatories (LRs) should be responded to. 

Sources said that while the scrutiny of the documents is still in progress what is known is that the money trail for Delphi Investment — the company to which the 9.9% stake held by Reliance Telecom in Swan was transferred in December 2007 — has now moved to Switzerland. Details and the funding pattern of Mavi Investment Fund, the company of which Delphi is a wholly-owned subsidiary, have also been received by the CBI. 

The fact that the money trail of Delphi had moved to another country, agency officials said, was "predictable" and said that a decision would be taken shortly about how soon a team could visit Switzerland.

The LR sent by the CBI to Mauritius had stated that just two months after bagging the dual technology licence, a subsidiary company of Reliance Communications had sold its entire equity of 1.07 crore shares to Delphi, located in Port Louis, Mauritius. 

The agency plans to probe the money trail in Switzerland in its attempt to link Delphi to the alleged pay-offs and a possible quid pro quo involving former Telecom Minister A Raja. 

The documents from Mauritius have been received by the CBI days before the agency is set to file its status report in the 2G case to the Supreme Court (in the first week of July) and at a time when the agency is actively tying loose ends to file a third chargesheet in the case. 

Given the urgency of the probe, the CBI had dispatched a two-member team to Mauritius last month which was accompanied by a two-member team of the Enforcement Directorate. The investigators had appealed to the Attorney General, citing the mutual legal assistance treaty between the two countries.
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