IPL's Rajasthan Royals, Punjab Kings' stakeholders linked to Pandora Papers: report
Leaked documents of Panamanian law firm reveal IPL franchises were owned either wholly or partly by Indians
- Offshore footprint found in origins of IPL teams Rajasthan Royals, Kings XI Punjab.
- Documents reveal links of Dabur's Gaurav Burman and husband of Lalit Modi’s stepdaughter Karima, with the Kings XI Punjab franchise.
- Lalit Modi's late wife Minal's brother-in-law, Suresh Chellaram, who is a businessman in Nigeria, was linked to the Rajasthan Royals franchise.
Offshore entities that invested into Indian Premier League (IPL) franchises Royal Multisport Private Ltd (the owner of the Rajasthan Royals) and KPH Dream Cricket Private Ltd (the owner of the Kings XI Punjab) have been linked to the Pandora Papers, according to a report by the Indian Express.
Leaked documents of Panamanian law firm Aleman, Cordero, Galindo & Lee Trust (BVI) Limited, also known as Alcogal, revealed that the IPL franchises were owned either wholly or partly by Indians, who are British citizens, and are linked to Lalit Modi, the founder of the IPL, the publication reported.
Dabur's Gaurav Burman, who is the husband of Modi's stepdaughter Karima, is linked to the Kings XI Punjab franchise, the report stated, while Lalit Modi's late wife Minal's brother-in-law, Suresh Chellaram, who is a businessman in Nigeria, is linked to the Rajasthan Royals franchise.
The Indian media report says Burman lent $2 million to Bantree International Ltd, a BVI company, for the “purpose of making a shareholder loan” to its Mauritian subsidiary Colway Investments Ltd, which in turn was a shareholder in KPH Dream Cricket.
"Everything to do with KPH Kings XI was thoroughly investigated by the BCCI and the Enforcement Directorate. The BCCI had actually terminated our franchise. We went to court and won that case. Our franchise was restored," Burman told the newspaper.
Alcogal documents also revealed that Lalit Modi's brother-in-law Chellaram was the sole shareholder in Tresco International Ltd, a BVI company, which held 44.15 percent in EM Sporting Holdings, a Mauritian company, the owner of Royal Multisport.
The report states that the ultimate beneficial owners (UBO) of Tresco were Chellaram's wife Kavita, son Aditya and daughter Amisha.
The Pandora papers is the third in a series of huge leaks of documents to the media following the Panama papers in 2016 and the Paradise papers in 2017 and little seems to have changed in the interim.