New Delhi, Feb 22: The CBI, which is probing the “yogi” fraud at the NSE, has questioned the bourse’s former Chief Strategic Advisor, Anand Subramanian, who has appointed to his position despite lack of experience and paid a hefty salary, but found him to be “evasive”, sources said on Monday.
A source told IANS that his statements was recorded for three consecutive days at Chennai.
“His statement is over. We have asked him not to leave the country. He will be summoned again whenever we will have a need. He was evasive throughout the questioning,” the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) source said.
Subramanian, who was brought to the NSE by its then CEO and MD Chitra Ramkrishna, reportedly had access to the email ID on which the emails were sent to the “Himalayan yogi” with whom the classified informations was shared.
The source added that another team of the CBI searched the SEBI office in Mumbai, and recovered some incriminating documents, evidences and digital documents.
“These are crucial documents and evidences nailing the lies of the accused involved in the case. We are in process of making a foolproof case against all the accused. These will help the prosecution in proving our case when it will go to court,” said the source.
The CBI had on February 19 grilled erstwhile NSE director Ravi Narain, who held the post before Ramkrishna.
Earlier, it was said that Narain had fled to London and is living there. But the CBI source told IANS that Narain was in Delhi where his statement was recorded.
“Narain was asked to join the investigation. He responded to our summons. He was called to the Delhi office where he was grilled. He is also a suspect in the case,” said the CBI source, adding that he also “tried to evade a lot of questions”. He also requested that his LOC against him be closed.
Ramkrishna was questioned by the CBI in Mumbai last week, and asked her around 50 questions, including for how long she had been sending mails to the “yogi”, was she given any cut for sharing classified information, if yes, where she invested this money.
According to sources, she tried to play victim card, claiming she didn’t know a lot of things. She also had claimed that she was innocent and somebody was trying to frame her.
The CBI had already opened Look Out Circular against Ramkrishna, Subramanian, and Narain, as they were deemed to be at risk of flight.
It had lodged an FIR against her on the basis of the SEBI’s 192 page report, accusing her of leaking classified information to the yogi who lived in the Himalayas and is still to be found.
On February 17, the Income Tax Department had conducted raids at the house of Ramkrishna in Mumbai and Chennai and said that they had recovered incriminating documents.
The department scanned various transactions and digital records, and also recorded the statements of a few of her employees.
Recently, the SEBI had imposed a fine of Rs 3 crore on her, following the market regulator finding that allegedly shared vital inputs about the NSE with the yogi. “Information regarding organisational structure, dividend scenario, financial results, human resource policies and related issues, response to regulator, etc., were shared by her with the yogi,” said the source. Between 2014 and 2016 she sent emails at rigyajursama@outlook.com.
Subramanian was made the Chief Strategic Advisor of NSE. He served at this post between 2013 and 2015 before being made Group Operations Officer and Advisor to the MD between 2015 and 2016, despite having no exposure to the capital market.
Previously working as a mid-level manager in Balmer and Lawrie, he had seen his salary increased from Rs 15 lakh to Rs 1.68 crore annually, and then to Rs 4.21 crore.