India's Enforcement Directorate has issued a "show cause notice" against
the Board of Control for Cricket in India, the Indian Premier League, their officials and private multimedia firms for "alleged
contravention of forex laws in awarding a cricketing media rights
contract" in '09, according to INDIAN TELEVISION. The ED has "slapped a charge" of Rs 425 crore ($68.4M) for the
same on the entities. The notices have been issued to close to 10 individuals and entities,
which include former BCCI President N. Srinivasan, then-IPL Chair Lalit
Modi, COO Sunder Raman, and World Sports Group and Multi Screen Media officials for allegedly and
fraudulently "manipulating" the contract and hence making illegal
payments (INDIAN TELEVISION, 2/16). The PTI reported the deal dates back to '08 when the BCCI awarded the 10-year media rights to WSG for $918M. In the same year, WSG also entered into a deal with MSM to make Sony the official broadcaster. The contract was replaced a year later with a nine-year deal where MSM paid $1.63B. The ED stepped in this case in '09 and "began a probe" under the Foreign Exchange Management Act to investigate allegations that payment of Rs 425 crore facilitation fees by MSM Singapore to WSG Mauritius were made in an allegedly unauthorized manner (PTI, 2/16).
