CWG scam: ED attaches Rs 36 lakh assets of Delhi firm

The Enforcement Directorate on Friday said that it has attached assets worth Rs 36 lakh of a company involved in the renovation of two stadiums during the 2010 CWG event under the anti-money laundering law.

The federal probe agency issued a provisional order under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) for the attachment of a flat located in East of Kailash locality of Delhi and valued at Rs 36.6 lakh of Raja Aederi Consultants Pvt Ltd.

The firm had taken up a consultancy contract for upgradation and renovation of Shivaji Stadium and Talkatora Stadium, the agency said.

The ED had booked the firm and its directors on the basis of a CBI FIR and filed the chargesheet on charges of corruption. It said the company and its director Raja Aederi and Executive Director Uday Shankar Bhat were found guilty by a trial court here.

The Enforcement Directorate, in June, had similarly attached assets worth Rs 94.24 lakh in the name of the same company, the agency said.

The company, the agency said, had "submitted false documents to NDMC (New Delhi Municipal Council) in order to obtain four contracts pertaining to up-gradation and renovation of Shivaji Stadium and Talkatora Stadium for a work of value of Rs 1 crore (Rs 50 lakh each for both the stadiums)."

"Even though the company did not have the requisite experience, it was awarded the work of Rs 4.25 crore for consultancy of a five-storey building with two basements at both the stadium without going for re-tendering."

"In this manner, the contracts for work amounting to Rs 5.25 crore were wrongly awarded to Ms Raja Aederi Consultants Pvt. Ltd," it said.

The ED has attached the latest property under the criminal provisions of the PMLA after studying the charge sheet of the CBI in the case and hence it was done after so many years of the games being held in Delhi, an official said.

The CWG sporting extravaganza was marred by allegations of blatant corruption in the creation of infrastructure and procurement of items for the 2010 games and multiple agencies such as the CBI, the ED and the Income Tax department had launched separate probes soon after the conclusion of the games.