SHIV Sena supremo Bal Thackeray's lips are sealed on all queries about nephew Raj's links with Pallav Sheth, one of the accused in the securities scam, now under investigation of the special court of Justice S.N. Variava.
Sheth's books of account submitted to the court shows that Raj Thackeray, his wife Sharmila and his father-in-law received more than Rs 3 crore from front companies owned by the broker. Also among those who received funds from the five companies belonging to Sheth are the Kini case accused—builder Laxmichand Shah and son Suman; Ashutosh Rane, a classmate of Raj who took the rap in the Kini case while Raj was declared innocent by the CBI.
It is now becoming apparent that Raj's name on Sheth's books might not just be a simple case of loans and payoffs. Details of the payoffs find mention in the request by the court custodian to Justice Variava to order a stay on further business dealings by Sheth's companies, Claire Chemicals, Magan Hotels, Mallika Foods and a securities and plastics company. This request was made following a raid by IT authorities on May 5, 1998.
In the list of recipients supplied by the custodian are friends of Raj Thackeray. However, one surprise entry is businessman and power broker Vijay Kalantri, considered a confidant of former Union home minister S.B. Chavan. Kalantri is said to have been paid Rs 24.75 lakh.
Congress MLA Chhagan Bhujbal, who crossed over to the party from the Sena in 1991, says there is much more to Sheth's account books than meets the eye. Bhujbal who claims to know the modus operandi of the Sena alleges money-laundering of "blood money" acquired by the party over the years. Says he: "There is extortion to begin with. It used to happen in small sums from petty traders. Now they are playing in the big league." According to him, this unaccounted money is converted into "white" by showing borrowings from various private lenders like Sheth and reinvested into legitimate businesses.
As an example, Bhujbal points to the involvement of Matoshree Realtors (Thackeray's residence incidentally is also named Matoshree) with Sheth's dealings. Documents with Justice Variava's court reveal that Matoshree Realtors received Rs 9 lakh each from Sheth's five companies totalling Rs 45 lakh. The partners and directors of this company include Rane and Rajan Shirodkar, chairperson of the Maharashtra State Pollution Control Board as well as one of the chief promoters of Raj Thackeray's private employment agency, the Shiv Udyog Sena.
There's more. While Sheth might have "lent" the money to Raj and others (including fashion photographer Shantanu Sheorey, industrialist Par-vez Damania, who was a Sena Lok Sabha candidate in 1996 from Ahmednagar, and Suresh Gupta, a commodities trader and another Matoshree Realtors' director), he found himself muscled out of his home, a flat located in the Oval View building opposite the Oval Maidan in the prime Churchgate area.
What does Raj himself have to say about all this? "Ask me tomorrow," he told Outlook. His tomorrow never did come, despite consistent efforts. "It will," adds Bhujbal. "After they have consulted chartered accountants and cleaned up their books, they will have a plausible explanation. This is how they always do it."
