No guilty will be spared 1st or last family: Parrikar on chopper scam

Feb 25: Two Customs Preventive officers allegedly involved in gold smuggling cases in Kerala were removed from service, a top official said in Kochi on Monday.

Sumit Kumar, Commissioner of Customs (Preventive), Kochi, said that he took action against Radhakrishnan B, Superintendent of Customs, and Rahul, Inspector of Customs, who were allegedly involved in gold smuggling cases in the state.

Radhakrishnan was involved in attempted smuggling of gold weighing 24998.61 grams having a market value of over Rs 8 crore through Thiruvananthapuram international airport on May 13, 2019, Kumar said.

Rahul was involved in attempted smuggling of gold weighing 11,035.54 grams valued at over Rs 4 crore through international airport on August 19, 2019, the Customs Commissioner added.

Radhakrishnan is currently lodged in Central prison, Thiruvananthapuram after the Central Economic Intelligence Bureau under the Union Finance Ministry issued detention order under COFEPOSA (Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities Act, 1974).

Rahul, against whom detention order under COFEPOSA was issued, is absconding.

"Two Customs officers of the Customs Preventive Commissionerate, Kochi, who were involved in gold smuggling cases were removed from service by Sumit Kumar, Commissioner of Customs (Preventive), Cochin," an official release said.

Kumar said that both the cases were booked and investigated by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence and while show cause notice under Customs Act 1962 has been issued against Radhakrishnan, investigation is under progress in the other case.

"Both the officers were removed from service, after due process of law under Rule 19 of the Central Civil Services (Classification, Control and Appeal) Rules, 1965," the release said.

Bengaluru, Jun 20: Amid calls for boycott of Chinese products in the backdrop of Indo-China border face-off, former Karnataka chief minister HD Kumaraswamy sought to know from the BJP government in Karnataka the status of the "Compete with China" policy brought during the previous JDS-Congress rule.

Boycotting Chinese products was not easy like sloganeering but required a creative policy and the coalition government's initiative was a model for it, he said in a series of tweets.

"After the border skirmish, some people got the realisation to boycott the Chinese products but during my tenure (as chief minister) a serious thought was given to it," the JDS leader said.

He was apparently referring to growing clamour for boycott of China-made products after a violent clash between Indian and Chinese troops in the Galwan Valley in Ladakh left 20 Indian Army personnel dead early this week.

Mr Kumaraswamy said he had brought the Compete With China policy to effectively deal with the neighbouring country.

"My government's objective was to offer jobs to the local residents, snatch away market opportunities for China and discard the Chinese products."

"However, what has the present government done to our scheme? It is not known whether it is still continuing or not," Mr Kumaraswamy said.

The Kumarswamy government had identified clusters and earmarked Rs 2,000 crore for their development.

Newsroom, Apr 30: Beleaguered billionaire B R Shetty, who went into hiding after after a multi-billion fraud at UAE-based NMC Health came to light, has now put the blame on his companies employees.

The former chairman of the Abu Dhabi headquartered hospital operator said, investigations he commissioned found following things:

1. The fraudulent creation and operating of bank accounts in my name including many fraudulent transfers that I neither authorised, consented to, or had any knowledge of.

2. The fraudulent creation of loans, personal guarantees, cheques and bank transfers in my name, and using my forged signature, that I neither authorised, consented to, or had any knowledge of.

3. The creation and set-up of companies in my name that I neither authorised, consented to, or had any knowledge of, and that were seemingly created with the express intention to commit or conceal fraud.

4. The fraudulent creation of powers of attorney, and the misuse of existing powers of attorney, again in my name, that I that I neither authorised, consented to, or had any knowledge of.

5. The creation and provision to me of false and misleading financial statements and information regarding the performance of some of my private companies and investments by members of my own management team.

6. The payments of expenses using my private companies and personal bank accounts, I believe to hide the true financials of the public companies."

This is the first time Dr. Shetty, who is reportedly hiding in India for the last couple of months, issued a statement based on investigations he commissioned privately. He had brought in a consultancy to conduct it after initial revelations came to light that NMC Health had not been fully transparent with its finances.

Dr. Shetty had stepped down as executive chairman after the then Board of Directors barred him from attending any meetings. “I intend to work tirelessly to clear my name and assist any authorities in getting to the truth and help them ensure that misappropriated or missing funds are returned by the perpetrators to their rightful owners,” said Dr. Shetty.

This month, ADCB, which has the highest exposure among UAE banks to NMC Health, brought charges against five former officials, including ex-board of directors, with Abu Dhabi prosecution. The former CEOs of NMC Health and Finablr are also currently not in the UAE.