jairamesh Posted October 12, 2012 Posted October 12, 2012 Keep them coming :hysterical: Fresh payoffs scandal hits UPA http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/fresh-payoffs-scandal-hits-upa/article3992323.ece?homepage=true The scandal-hit United Progressive Alliance government faced a fresh corruption-related challenge on Friday, with the surfacing of a document purporting to show that one of India's largest steel firms made payoffs to senior officials in key ministries, and even the media. The document, claimed to have been seized by the Income Tax Department during a December 1, 2010 raid on the New Delhi offices of the Pramod Mittal-controlled Ispat Industries, appears to record off-book cash transactions made by company staff from 2007. The spreadsheet purports to show that payments of Rs. 27,74,535, Rs. 1,00,00,000 and Rs. 50 lakh were made to an individual identified as 'VBS'. In addition, payments of Rs.15 lakh were made to an individual "Min of Steel APS". Transactions of Rs .1 crore to an individual identified as "AS for PC" are recorded for September 11 and 16, 2008. In addition, the document appears to show Ispat officials routinely paid out cash to officials in the Ministry of Finance, Commerce, Company Affairs, Petroleum, Coal, Mines, Steel, Environment and Forests, Rural Development, Highways and Road Transport and the National Highways Authority of India. The document also records a welter of relatively minor transactions: among them, over Rs.1 lakh for "Entertaining a Nigerian minister; a cash payment of $1,500 to an unidentified Korean diplomat, at a time when Ispat was reported to be negotiating rights to a steel mine in Busan; multiple Rs.10,000 payments to a journalist then working for a major business newspaper; bribes to lower-level officials in several states; and payments to major fashion designers on behalf of members of the Mittal family.
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