The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has requested the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to inform it whether or not the Organising Committee (OC) for the Commonwealth Games-2010, led by Suresh Kalmadi, had taken its permission to carry out the transactions with the London-based AM Films and the Australian company Sports Management and Marketing (SMAM), in connection with Queen Baton’s Relay and sponsorship commission, respectively.
The transactions for AM Films, which has been allegedly paid Rs 3.5 crore and an additional amount of Rs 25,000 every month since last year, were reportedly carried out through Royal Bank of Scotland. In the case of SMAM, payments worth over Rs 50 crore have allegedly been made by the OC.
As per rules, an entity carrying out transactions with foreign firms in excess of Rs 50,000 requires a clearance from the RBI. The ED wants to know whether or not the OC had the required permission and, if so, then what was its ground for seeking permission, sources said. This is the reason that ED has requested RBI to provide details about the permission sought for international monetary transactions by the OC, sources said.
Sources further said that the linkages of SMAM with the Mauritius-based World Sports Group (WSG) have also raised suspicion of money laundering. Officials of the revenue intelligence agencies, including ED, are also scrutinising contract documents signed between the OC and the foreign firm and its subsidiary companies, sources said. Money laundering aspect is also being probed, if any, sources said.
“SMAM and its subsidiary companies have been authorised by the OC to get sponsorships for the Games. As per contract, the Australian firm will get 23 per cent commission by the OC for each sponsorship. There are also reports that around Rs 50 crores have already been paid to the Australian firm by the OC,” sources said. The ED wants to know how the payment was made to the Australian firm and what procedures were followed, sources added.
The ED is also collecting documents related to the international monetary transactions between OC and London-based AM Films. The revenue and customs department of the UK government stumbled upon huge sums of “unaccounted sums” deposited in AM Films.