New Delhi: CBI in its ongoing probe into the espionage of official data leakage case from the Ministry of Finance carried out more raids on Friday. Â
They raided the offices of a law firm Chitale & Associates and a chartered accountant, Mitesh J Majithia, both based in Mumbai and recovered several incriminating documents from their office premises.
CBI also held two more persons from Delhi. One of the arrested was identified as Ram Niwas, an assistant in the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) section of the finance ministry.
According to CBI sources, Ram Niwas was allegedly leaking confidential FIPB documents.
The other person arrested by agency officials was identified as Paresh Chiman Lal Buddhadev, a partner in Mumbai-based law firm Chitale & Associates.
CBI sources revealed that Paresh was arrested while he was trying to destroy two sacks of documents in his office. CBI has recovered some of these documents.
The arrests came even as top CBI sources said officials from two more ministries and several corporate houses were under the scanner.
According to credible sources, agency has found that first and second level decisions taken by the finance and the commerce ministers and secretaries were being shared with corporate houses via consultants, law firms and chartered accountants after they were procured from under-secretaries, section officers and other officials.
Sources further said several other senior and junior officials in different ministries, private companies and CA firms were under the scanner. Several bank transactions and property investments done by some officers, including the arrested ones, are also being checked.
On Friday, CBI sleuths produced AK Singh and Sharma in Patiala House court and the duo has been taken for five day police remand. Whereas, court also granted three day transit remand for Khemchand Gandhi, a CA arrested from Mumbai on Thursday. Â
Earlier, the stink of the official data leak on Thursday reached the Ministry of Finance as CBI arrested under-secretary, Ashok Kumar Singh, from the Department of Disinvestment & Grievances, Lala Ram Sharma, a section officer with the Department of Economic Affairs along with Gandhi.
This was the first action by CBI and officials claimed it was a bigger racket than what Delhi Police had unearthed because the custodians of the documents were directly involved.
The house and office of Daljeet Singh, an upper divisional clerk in the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion Board, was raided but he has not been detained yet.
According to CBI sources Gandhi has named eight companies as the recipients of stolen documents. Gandhi has named DLF Limitless, HDFC Bank, Glenmark Pharmaceuticals, IndusInd Bank, Novalead Pharmaceuticals, Kakardi British Realty, Modril India and Prime Living.
CBI sources informed NewsMobile that big names in banking, pharmaceuticals and realty business are also under the agency’s scanner.
All entities under investigation had applied for foreign investments.
Sources said Gandhi and some other Chartered Accountants, who got documents from government officials, sold the papers to these companies for a handsome price.
The money involved in these deals is being probed. CBI has recovered Rs 60 lakh from Gandhi and several thousand documents, including electronic data in laptops, tablets and computers, during the raids on Thursday.
Raids were conducted in six places in the national capital, including residences of the arrested persons, and two in Mumbai including Gandhi’s residence and office.
Offices searched on Thursday in Delhi included the Department of Economic Affairs and Department of Disinvestment in the Finance Ministry and also the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion in the Commerce Ministry.
Officers said the accused would store documents in their office computers and then take printouts, which was then couriered to the chartered accountants.
CBI officials said that section officers and under-secretaries are in charge of policy documents and they also initiate policy notes on any proposal/scheme in the ministries.
According to credible sources the racket was on for the past two years.
Senior officials also revealed that officials arrested in PetroGate are custodians of policy documents and first movers of policy proposals.
Official further revealed that accused may be influencing policies in favour of certain companies.
CBI has registered a case under 120 B (criminal conspiracy), (381) theft under IPC and misuse of official position under prevention of corruption act against the trio.
Sources also revealed that by getting to know that a particular foreign investment policy was being floated in the government, it gave the beneficiary time to prepare for the policy before it was enforced.
Last month, Delhi Police had unearthed an espionage racket involving lower rung officials in the petroleum and coal ministries. Several executives from energy majors were arrested along with lower ministerial staff and consultants.
Sources informed NewsMobile that as the raid on chartered accountant Khemchand Gandhi was going on in Mumbai on Thursday, a courier arrived from one of the arrested ministry officials, Ashok Kumar Singh.
The packet contained a classified government documents, sources alleged.