IPL scam: I-T Dept gets finance details of more than Rs 150cr

The department had few months ago approached an exclusive cell in the Finance Ministry dealing with the subject, as it wanted to establish the money trail of investments by various IPL franchises in its ongoing investigations into the foreign funds in various editions of the T-20 cricket tournaments.

The information regarding investments and remittances to the tune of about Rs 150 crore in IPL media rights has been received from British Virgin Islands and Mauritius while similar details are awaited from some other tax haven countries, sources in Finance Ministry said.

The information received from these countries will qualify as good piece of information and evidence under the provisions of both the Prevention of Money Laundering Act and Foreign Exchange Management Act which are being probed by the I-T department and the Enforcement Directorate, they said.

There is an intricate share holding and investments pattern in the various franchises which have routed the money in the IPL through tax havens and remitted money in companies there, they said.

The I-T department has also written to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) seeking information on the foreign investments brought by all the IPL franchises and while the ED is checking violations under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA).

The bid documents reveal huge funding by NRIs in various IPL franchises. But the documents do not reflect the entire financial details of these individuals, they said.

The Foreign Tax Division in the Finance Ministry looks into the tax liabilities and evasion by non-residents and foreigners in respect of both the countries under the agreements.
The Income Tax department had collected voluminous documents related to bidding, payment of taxes and various other financial details during its countrywide survey of various IPL franchises.

The first such operation was conducted on April 15 at the BCCI and IPL premises, including the office of suspended IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi.