New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is in the process of serving final penalty notices in 16 alleged forex violation cases amounting to an estimated Rs 1,700 crore against former IPL chairman Lalit Modi and others as part of its wide-ranging probe in the alleged financial irregularities in various editions of the T-20 cricket extravaganza.
High-level ED sources said apart from these cases, two other instances of suspected contravention of foreign exchange laws and hawala transactions are also being investigated by the Central probe agency and these include investigations into the role of Mr Lalit Modi.
Investigation in a third case of money laundering against the former cricket czar, sources said, is also “underway” which is related to the alleged misappropriation of funds in allotment of cricket media rights by the BCCI in 2009.
“About 16 cases being probed under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (Fema) are in the final stages of adjudication, which means final orders for penalty will be served in the coming months against the accused which includes all the important functionaries of the IPL-BCCI including Mr Lalit Modi.
“The cases amount to violations of an estimated Rs 1,600 crore and the maximum penalty could be three times this amount,” a source said.
The agency, in February, had slapped a similar Rs 425 crore show-cause notice against Mr Lalit Modi, former BCCI boss N. Srinivasan, the IPL and private multimedia firms for alleged violation of forex laws in awarding a cricketing media rights contract in 2009. The sources added that the money laundering case was registered early this year.
