T M Ramalingam, the man from whose Tirupur house income tax authorities recently seized what are being purported to be Bills of Exchange worth $5 billion, is known as a man of simple tastes who settled in Dharapuram some 20 years ago after moving from his native Thondamuthur village in scenic Pollachi of Coimbatore district where many films are regularly shot. “No VIPs have come to his house. We did not know that someone in our neighbourhood could be a billionaire,” says one of his neighbours. His house is not an abode of luxury. Except for a Toyota Innova and his smartphone, nothing even remotely suggests that the house was a storeroom of wealth.
Taxmen say Ramalingam’s is a dealer in shares and debentures, who had allied interests such as trading in gold in Singapore. He also struck an occasional real estate deal. So where did he get these T-Bonds from? Investigations revealed that Ramalingam frequently travelled abroad, including visits to China, Brazil and Myanmar, with no evident source of funding to explain such wide travel. IT officers also indicated that receipts for fixed deposits worth several crore rupees, 700-odd grams gold and jewels, some silver ornaments and his passport were seized in addition to certain “contract papers.” “The matter is still being investigated. The Central Board for Direct Taxes Chairman is directly monitoring the investigations,” says K V Chowdary, Member, CBDT (Investigations Wing), New Delhi. One theory they have is that Ramalingam purchased the T-Bonds around 15 months ago from a mediator in Dubai. Another is that he liquidated some Chinese gold bonds he held previously in exchange for the five T-Bonds through an intermediary. “We are still conducting preliminary inquiries. We would be in a position to crystallise information in eight to 10 days. But one thing is sure, it certainly must have been ill gotten, either by him or someone must have left it in his custody. After all, Ramalingam had been filing an annual IT returns of only Rs 2 lakh till now. These T-Bonds were never reflected in his IT returns filed with us,” says an IT officer in Coimbatore.
Parallel investigations are being conducted separately by state and Central Intelligence agencies whether Ramalingam could be a ‘benami’ (front) for influential persons. “One of the premises on which we are proceeding is that the T-Bonds must have been given to him for safekeeping by an influential politician in the western districts, who is currently out of favour with his party leadership. We suspect this because, one of Ramalingam’s relatives, who is a local political functionary, is known to be close to the politician. But this is just an assumption. Two former Members of Parliament too are under discreet scrutiny. Again that too is very preliminary,” an officer said.
The dhoti-clad bespectacled man, a father of two school-going kids grandly declared that he is all set to establish a petroleum refinery in Thondi in southern Tamil Nadu’s Ramanathapuram district with an investment of Rs 1.50 lakh crore—a claim contested by the Ramanathapuram Collector and Registrar of Companies (Coimbatore) Nantha Kumar—but refused to divulge details of his funding. Similarly, when contacted, M Manuneethi Cholan, Registrar of Companies (Coimbatore), said: “We have not registered any refinery by the said person at our office till date.” However, in 2010, Union Chemicals Minister M K Alagiri had identified Ramanathapuram as a potential location for establishing the state’s second Petroleum Chemicals and Petrochemicals Investment Region (PCPIR). A US-based company, ENKORR Energys Limited had announced plans to set up a Merchant Petroleum Refinery in Ramanathapuram district, but only on paper. Ramalingam is currently in Chennai, being interrogated by IT officials.
The Sunday Standard