A decade or so back in his illustrious past, he was the business mogul that perhaps many would’ve idolized and several hundreds of thousands would’ve wanted to meet, at least, once. His most lasting creation to the world of sports, in particular, was the advent of arguably the most famous and widely known version of the T20 cricket: the IPL. There was once this time where his face glazed the headlines of every newspaper circulated in India and overseas. And then came about a time that potentially led to his downfall. Few have made it as big and come down crumbling as Lalit Modi.
And now, after months and months of finding his name escaping the headlines with the public persona having settled away from the glare of the onlookers and media scrutiny, it appears that the headlines have once again found a subject of widespread debate in Lalit Modi.
Recently, a few hours back what made a lot of news was that of the Indian government seeking details of the banking transactions made by Lalit Modi and his wife. Yes, you read that right sans any misconceptions.
But if one wondered as to what explained the sudden scrutiny concerning the media mogul, all of a sudden, then it’s important to know that the ongoing efforts are in lines with India’s long-term commitment to nab the offenders armed with black money.
As India has stepped up its crackdown on the black money that is stashed abroad, it appears that Switzerland, where Modi is believed to have placed certain sums of his wealth, has issued public notices to the former IPL commissioner as well as his wife.
This action is directly a result of the Indian authorities quizzing about the Swiss bank details of the couple, once a regular feature on mainstream media.
In addition to the above, it’s important to note that in lines with the Indian authorities having quizzed the once ‘power couple’ about their banking transactions, both Lalit Modi and his wife have been given a time period of no more than 10 days to designate authorized personnel to respond to the assistance request received by the FTA from India.
For long, Switzerland used to be known for strict secrecy clauses about the details of foreigners having accounts in the Swiss Banks. But the scenario in the past few years has changed as owing to an increased pressure being made on the famous land-locked nation has compelled Switzerland to share details about the banking transactions of foreign nationals who have stashed their cash with it.
It’s also important to note that under Swiss law, a prescribed procedure is followed for any administration assistance or information exchange by the FTA with India or with any other country- but one- with which the Alpine nation has in place tax treaties about their respective nationals.
That said, it’s worthwhile to remember that Lalit Modi, in lines with the ongoing clamor of financial irregularities and mismanagement pertaining to the IPL, had left the country way back in 2010. Since then, he’s been living away in the United Kingdom. But the case of money laundering lodged against the Rajasthan-born businessman has refused to fade away into the oblivion, therefore, painting a tainted image of the man who birthed the most innovative form of T20 cricket at a franchise level.