Dubai-Muscat-Riyadh link of Kerala Politicians
A leading Contractor approaches the branch manager of a public sector bank in Kerala and asks him to arrange fresh Five Hundred rupee notes worth Rs. 10 lakhs within one day. Without bothering to know the intricacies of withdrawing Fresh Five Hundred rupee notes exclusively by a regular customer , the manager arranges the money. Next day the businessman comes with an empty suitcase and arranges the five hundred rupee notes in it and walks away to an unknown destination.
The bank official was curious to know the secret behind insisting on withdrawing only five lakh worth fresh currency notes. Even though he asked the gentlemen about it later, he avoided any direct answers. However, one day he invited the manager for a party at his residence and when he was fully drunk, he called him to a corner and said: "You asked me about the purpose of taking fresh five rupee notes from the bank.
Nowadays, these stupid ministers started accepting suitcase full of money directly from businessman like me. Earlier they needed the assistance of third parties or agents to receive bribe. Because of this new five hundred rupee notes and the acceptance of bribery as a routine matter, they have started accepting money directly."
The manager was quite surprised to realize that Kerala ministers started receiving bribe directly from such businessman. Many branch managers will be aware of the businessman withdrawing fresh five hundred rupee notes from the banks located in the state capital. During informal conversations, bank employees share a number of such stories, which reveal the uncivilized and corrupt face of Kerala politicians.
While giving big as well as small contracts, project tenders or other major deals involving money, the ministers, senior bureaucrats involved in the decision making and some senior political leaders engage in an unholy partnership to share a part of the booty.
The State Chief Minister is adamant that due to the salary given to government employees, the state exchequer is empty. But compared to the amount of money siphoned off by this unholy nexus of politicians and businessman, the employees role in emptying the treasury is very limited.
The commonly accepted practice in tendering is to accept a certain percentage of the total bill amount as commission to the ministers and senior officials. "While awarding any major contracts, the minister invites all the major bidders for private meeting and advise them how to go about to get the contract," reveal sources closely associated with the tendering process in Thiruvananthapuram. "If there are four pre qualified bidders for a project, the minister invites all of them for separate meetings and advise them that each bidder will get a share of the work. Instead of quoting lower amounts, he will ask them to quote a higher amount and share the work among the four.
If it is a project worth Rs. 10 crores, he will ask them to quote for Rs. 20 crores. The additional ten crores, which flows from the public exchequer to the contractor, the minister and his subordinates, will be the additional earning for all the parties involved. The only loser in this business is the tax paying public.
Even though the work is contracted for Rs. 20 crores, the consortium will see to it that the project is not implemented within that cost and time period.
Citing a number of silly reasons, the contractor will introduce new terms and conditions in the project work, seeking more funds for completing it. 'With the knowledge of the minister and other higher officials involved in project implementation, the contractor will say that for removing some rock in the project area or some additional work, he incurred additional expenditure," added sources. It is the common modus operandi used by the contractors to make quick money. In awarding liquor and hotel licenses and tourism projects corruption is prevalent in the state, added sources.
All the black money earned through corruption and dubious deals is converted into white money following the hawala route. Many of the Kerala politicians have got their 'agents' or 'benamis' engaged in some sort of insignificant business in the Gulf countries, Canada, the USA or any other foreign countries. "In Canada and USA such agents are operating the dirty business openly on behalf of some of the Kerala ministers.
In various Gulf countries, they have their benami operators who are used as a cover to convert their black money earned in the state into white money. Prominent state minister have their own people in the Gulf. Some of them are engaged in business, as a cover to transfer huge amount of money through the hawala route and convert black money into white.
Thanks to the liberal approach of Dr.Manmohan Singh, the former finance minister, any amount of foreign exchange can be remitted or gifted by a Non Resident Indian to anyone in India. The hawala operation or the unofficial fund transfer from the Gulf region to South Asian countries and vice versa - comes handy for these politicians to convert their black money earned in India into white money.
The modus operandi is very simple - those who need to send their foreign currency to India give their money directly to the hawala agent in the Gulf. Many ordinary people and members of the crime syndicate who want to send money for illegal purposes like drug trafficking, arms struggle or funding political groups, engage the service of these hawala operators.
People who are not comfortable with sending money through banks also prefer this illegal route. Hawala operators give higher exchange rate to attract customers. After receiving the foreign exchange abroad, the hawala agent's representative in India arranges to give the black money earned in India through dubious means to the end recipients. So without any trace of paper or documentation, money has changed hands and black money is converted into white. The politician will give a higher premium to the hawala agent for converting his black money into white.
The foreign currency bought by the hawala agent in the foreign country is remitted through the legal channel to India either by the local agent of the politician or by a "carrier". 'Carriers' in hawala business are persons who are working or doing business in the Gulf with fake labour card or passports.
"These businesses are a cover to convert their black money into white," added sources. This is the secret behind the frequent foreign visits of some of the state ministers ostensibly for tourism promotion or as part of a foreign delegation. Non Resident Indians who send money to India for purchasing property or real estate also prefer the hawala route because in any property transaction they have to give a portion of the deal in black money.
If you monitor the Kerala ministers who frequent the USA, Canada or Gulf region, you get a clear idea as to who is doing what. During these visits some of the ministers go with their suitcase filled with gold biscuits because the VIP baggage goes unchecked in Kerala airports. A business pays for the gold as part of his generosity. Is there anything wrong if the minister reciprocate back home.
A leading Contractor approaches the branch manager of a public sector bank in Kerala and asks him to arrange fresh Five Hundred rupee notes worth Rs. 10 lakhs within one day. Without bothering to know the intricacies of withdrawing Fresh Five Hundred rupee notes exclusively by a regular customer , the manager arranges the money. Next day the businessman comes with an empty suitcase and arranges the five hundred rupee notes in it and walks away to an unknown destination.
The bank official was curious to know the secret behind insisting on withdrawing only five lakh worth fresh currency notes. Even though he asked the gentlemen about it later, he avoided any direct answers. However, one day he invited the manager for a party at his residence and when he was fully drunk, he called him to a corner and said: "You asked me about the purpose of taking fresh five rupee notes from the bank.
Nowadays, these stupid ministers started accepting suitcase full of money directly from businessman like me. Earlier they needed the assistance of third parties or agents to receive bribe. Because of this new five hundred rupee notes and the acceptance of bribery as a routine matter, they have started accepting money directly."
The manager was quite surprised to realize that Kerala ministers started receiving bribe directly from such businessman. Many branch managers will be aware of the businessman withdrawing fresh five hundred rupee notes from the banks located in the state capital. During informal conversations, bank employees share a number of such stories, which reveal the uncivilized and corrupt face of Kerala politicians.
While giving big as well as small contracts, project tenders or other major deals involving money, the ministers, senior bureaucrats involved in the decision making and some senior political leaders engage in an unholy partnership to share a part of the booty.
The State Chief Minister is adamant that due to the salary given to government employees, the state exchequer is empty. But compared to the amount of money siphoned off by this unholy nexus of politicians and businessman, the employees role in emptying the treasury is very limited.
The commonly accepted practice in tendering is to accept a certain percentage of the total bill amount as commission to the ministers and senior officials. "While awarding any major contracts, the minister invites all the major bidders for private meeting and advise them how to go about to get the contract," reveal sources closely associated with the tendering process in Thiruvananthapuram. "If there are four pre qualified bidders for a project, the minister invites all of them for separate meetings and advise them that each bidder will get a share of the work. Instead of quoting lower amounts, he will ask them to quote a higher amount and share the work among the four.
If it is a project worth Rs. 10 crores, he will ask them to quote for Rs. 20 crores. The additional ten crores, which flows from the public exchequer to the contractor, the minister and his subordinates, will be the additional earning for all the parties involved. The only loser in this business is the tax paying public.
Even though the work is contracted for Rs. 20 crores, the consortium will see to it that the project is not implemented within that cost and time period.
Citing a number of silly reasons, the contractor will introduce new terms and conditions in the project work, seeking more funds for completing it. 'With the knowledge of the minister and other higher officials involved in project implementation, the contractor will say that for removing some rock in the project area or some additional work, he incurred additional expenditure," added sources. It is the common modus operandi used by the contractors to make quick money. In awarding liquor and hotel licenses and tourism projects corruption is prevalent in the state, added sources.
All the black money earned through corruption and dubious deals is converted into white money following the hawala route. Many of the Kerala politicians have got their 'agents' or 'benamis' engaged in some sort of insignificant business in the Gulf countries, Canada, the USA or any other foreign countries. "In Canada and USA such agents are operating the dirty business openly on behalf of some of the Kerala ministers.
In various Gulf countries, they have their benami operators who are used as a cover to convert their black money earned in the state into white money. Prominent state minister have their own people in the Gulf. Some of them are engaged in business, as a cover to transfer huge amount of money through the hawala route and convert black money into white.
Thanks to the liberal approach of Dr.Manmohan Singh, the former finance minister, any amount of foreign exchange can be remitted or gifted by a Non Resident Indian to anyone in India. The hawala operation or the unofficial fund transfer from the Gulf region to South Asian countries and vice versa - comes handy for these politicians to convert their black money earned in India into white money.
The modus operandi is very simple - those who need to send their foreign currency to India give their money directly to the hawala agent in the Gulf. Many ordinary people and members of the crime syndicate who want to send money for illegal purposes like drug trafficking, arms struggle or funding political groups, engage the service of these hawala operators.
People who are not comfortable with sending money through banks also prefer this illegal route. Hawala operators give higher exchange rate to attract customers. After receiving the foreign exchange abroad, the hawala agent's representative in India arranges to give the black money earned in India through dubious means to the end recipients. So without any trace of paper or documentation, money has changed hands and black money is converted into white. The politician will give a higher premium to the hawala agent for converting his black money into white.
The foreign currency bought by the hawala agent in the foreign country is remitted through the legal channel to India either by the local agent of the politician or by a "carrier". 'Carriers' in hawala business are persons who are working or doing business in the Gulf with fake labour card or passports.
"These businesses are a cover to convert their black money into white," added sources. This is the secret behind the frequent foreign visits of some of the state ministers ostensibly for tourism promotion or as part of a foreign delegation. Non Resident Indians who send money to India for purchasing property or real estate also prefer the hawala route because in any property transaction they have to give a portion of the deal in black money.
If you monitor the Kerala ministers who frequent the USA, Canada or Gulf region, you get a clear idea as to who is doing what. During these visits some of the ministers go with their suitcase filled with gold biscuits because the VIP baggage goes unchecked in Kerala airports. A business pays for the gold as part of his generosity. Is there anything wrong if the minister reciprocate back home.