Govts orders probe into firms with possible links to Koda

The Ministry of Corporate Affairs has ordered the inspection of two companies -- Nataraj Financial and Services and Luxury Exports -- based in Mumbai.

According to official sources, the inspection has been ordered after the ministry was tipped off by an investigating agency already probing the Koda case.

The inspection has been ordered under section 209 (a) of the Companies Act, under which the Registrar of Companies or the Regional Director can call for documents regarding accounts from a company.

Both the companies fall under the jurisdiction of Regional Director Western Region, headquarterd in Mumbai.

According to the investigation carried out by the ED and the I-T department, a number of front companies have allegedly been floated by Koda and his associates to invest and subsequently divert the money through Hawala transactions -- an offence under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The Enforcement Directorate had recently arrested two associates of Koda -- Manoj Punamiya and Arvind Vyas -- who the agency has alleged invested and routed money illegally during the tenure of the former chief minister and had carried out transactions within the country and abroad.

The investments were routed through a Mumbai based bullion company, ED sources said.
The ED, according to sources, has found that Punamiya had allegedly routed money through bullion markets for purchasing properties in Dubai and other Middle-Eastern countries.

The CBI, on August 12 in Ranchi, lodged separate FIRs against Koda, six of his former cabinet members and two of his aides on corruption charges, a week after the high court asked the agency to take up the investigation.

Koda was chief minister of Jharkhand between 2006 and 2008.