The Enforcement Directorate has launched discreet inquiries into the inflow of funds from Dubai to finance the over-Rs1,500-crore IPL Kochi deal.
According to the Mumbai newspaper DNA, transactions of over Rs400 crore were under the ED's scanner and some Dubai-based businessmen of Indian origin were being probed for their role in bankrolling the Kerala cricket venture.
"We are checking if black money is being brought back through fraudulent means to finance the venture. We are keeping an eye on money transfer channels," said a senior ED official.
All but one of the partners in the Rendezvous Sports World-led consortium which won the Kochi franchise are either based in Dubai or have business interests in the UAE.
Anchor Earth, a 27% stakeholder, is part of the diversified Anchor Group, which is represented by Atul Shah and Mehul Shah.
Film Waves (12%) is promoted by Dubai-based Harshad Mehta, who also owns the Rosy Blue Diamonds Group and is represented by Keshav T and Kailash Singhal.Mumbai-based entrepreneurs Vipul Shah and Bhavya Patel are the promoters of Parinee Developers (26%). Anand Shah Estates (8%) is headed by Saket Mehta, who also owns Sur Gems Group.
The lone Keralite investor (with 1% stake) in the pack is Vivek Venugopal, who runs the Elite and Cholayil group with headquarters at Thrissur.
The now famous Rendezvous Sports World Group with a 25% "free" stake is 75% owned by the Solapur-based Gaikwad family which has been in the cricket promotion business for 12 years in Maharashtra.
The Dubai connection runs further with some of the promoters, including Harshad Mehta, publicly saying that they invested the money after being asked to do so by Shashi Tharoor.
In a statement to a leading Dubai newspaper, Mehta said that his stake in the IPL's Kochi franchise was personal and could not be associated with the diamond company.
He, however, refused to divulge the amount of his investment. Tharoor's friend Sunanda Pushkar, who owns 18% in Rendezvous (and thus 4.5% indirectly in Team Kochi) too stayed in Dubai for over eight years with her husband Sujit Menon, a Keralite.
She worked for TECOM Investments, a Dubai-centred entity that has been trying to promote the embattled 'Smart City' project in Kochi.
The project has been under discussion for nearly a decade but has been controversial, as TECOM was accused of land grab.
A cynical Kerala Congressmen said, "After the Kochi IPL franchise, will Tharoor now offer to mentor 'Smart City' too?"
Tharoor, too, has a Dubai link. He became the chairman of Dubai-based Afras Ventures in 2007 but left the job when he contested the parliamentary elections in 2009. Afras Ventures is the company which set up the Afras Academy for Business Communication in Trivandrum, a source said.
