The Lalit Modi scandal has been rocking India, but, as the extradition process begins, there are new rumors that the troubles for the former India Premier League commissioner could extend much further.
Modi is under fire for allegations of money laundering related to a 2008 deal between World Sports Group and Multi Screen Media for rights to the India Premier League.
On Thursday the Enforcement Directorate recorded a statement from former BCCI president N Shrinivasan in connection to the money laundering charges.
“Srinivasan appeared before us today and we recorded his statement for close to three hours,” said an ED official in a statement to IBN Live .
“We have recorded Srinivasan’s statement as he had filed the police complaint on behalf of BCCI,” the official added.
The ED’s investigation stretches back six years, looking into allegations that the facilitation fee was illegally channeled through “unauthorized beneficiaries” and not the cricket regulating bodies as the contracts stipulated.
But the Lalit Modi scandal could extend much further. This week, First Post noted that other top members of the BCCI are likely to come under fire.
“The image currently being painted of Lalit Modi as a one-man violator of laws is a fake.
“A basic reading of the Enforcement Directorate notices that Lalit has posted on his website prima facie indicts a whole host of people from within and without the BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) for violating the Foreign Exchange Management Act (Fema).
“One name that comes up repeatedly is former BCCI President N Srinivasan, who is Lalit’s bete noire. But while Lalit was banished from the board and fled to London, Srinivasan rose to become BCCI president before the Supreme Court stepped in last year and said he couldn’t be president and own an IPL team too due to conflicts of interest (which was obvious to everyone but Srinivasan and the BCCI).”
The report claimed a conspiracy with Lalit Modi and the BCCI, claiming that “the truth of the matter is probably that the BCCI was happy to endorse whatever Lalit was doing until the other power brokers in the board decided he was getting too big and had to fail.”
Though the scandal is heating up, it still may take a long time for Lalit Modi to face extradition. The government has claimed it is seeking a fast-track to bringing the former IPL chief, but The Hindu reported that the process could take up to one year.
[Image via Getty Images/Tom Shaw]
