New Delhi, October 25: The questions over the source of funds to Nitin Gadkari's Purti Power and Sugar Ltd have deepened, with investigations revealing that money flowed in from a multi-layered maze of companies registered all over India.
A TOI report on Tuesday had mentioned some two dozen companies, many with unverifiable addresses, whose directors included Gadkari's driver and astrologer.
A closer look at the documents filed with the Registrar of Companies reveals a far more intricate web, with several entities ranged behind each company.
A preliminary assessment suggests that the total number of companies and individuals involved in funding Purti through the multi-layered operation may run into more than 100. TOI investigations show that layers of companies feeding funds into Purti, which have no known financial activity or source of income, can run six deep.
Take the case of Update Mercantile which, as per official records, held 29 lakh Purti shares on September 28, 2011. Update Mercantile in turn is controlled by 39 shareholders including both Gadkari's driver Manohar Panse and accountant Kwadu Zade.
Funding pattern shows clever financial brains
The biggest shareholder in Update Mercantile is Anantika Infrastructure Pvt Ltd, a company with its address as Motlibai Wadia Building in Mumbai. With 10,000 shares, Anantika has a 9.24% stake in Update Mercantile.
Anantika Infrastructure, in turn, was owned by 13 entities in September 2011— two individuals and 11 companies. Of these 11 companies, nine are based in Kolkata and two in Delhi. One of the Delhi companies, Fast Buildwell, is registered in a flat in west Delhi's Dwarka area.
This may be baffling by itself. However, the layer of mysterious companies does not end there, and in fact deepens from there.
All the 2,72,750 shares in Fast Buildwell are held by 17 companies. Of them, 12 are based in Kolkata, four in Delhi and one in Mumbai. One of the shareholders in Fast Buildwell is a Delhi-based company called King Buildwell which is registered in Munirka village in south Delhi. King Buildwell, in turn, is controlled by two individuals based in Kolkata.
The flow of funds, through a web of companies without any known financial activity and individuals, raises several questions. The BJP has defended its president saying Gadkari is open to any investigation, while the ministry of corporate affairs says it has already started a discreet inquiry.
The funding pattern clearly shows clever financial brains behind the entire strategy. However, it is yet to be explained why amounts as little as a few lakhs were routed into Purti through such multi-layered activity.
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