ED records statement of ex-NSE MD Chitra Ramkrishna in money laundering case

The Enforcement Directorate has recently recorded the statement of former NSE managing director and chief executive officer Chitra Ramkrishna lodged inside Delhis Tihar jail as part of a money laundering investigation against her and others officials said TuesdayThe proceedings for recording the statement were conducted on two occasions inside the jail The statement has been recorded under the criminal sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act PMLA they saidRamkrishna is lodged in the Tihar jail after she was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation CBI on March 6 in the alleged National Stock Exchange NSE colocation scam case and investigation linked to other governance irregularities at the bourseThe Enforcement Directorate a federal probe agency too is probing this case The Income Tax Department is the third agency investigating these charges of irregularities at the National Stock ExchangeThe EDs money laundering probe pertains to alleged irregularities in the NSE colocation case apart from the recent disclosures that came to the fore related to alleged governance lapses in the appointment of Anand Subramanian as the chief strategic advisor and his redesignation as group operating officer and advisor to the then MD RamkrishnaThe ED last month conducted raids in this case including at the premises of the brokers involved in the colocation caseThe Enforcement Directorate case stems from a CBI FIR into the colocation case The CBI had arrested Ramkrishna and Subramanian early this year and they are in jail at present A chargesheet has also been filed against them in the court by the CBIThe Securities and Exchange Board of India SEBI had launched its probe into the colocation matter in early 2015 after it was brought to light by a whistleblower that some brokers were allegedly getting preferential access through colocation facility early login and dark fiber which can allow a trader a splitsecond faster access to data feed of an exchangeAs part of this facility brokers could place their servers within the stock exchange premises giving them faster access to the markets It is alleged that some brokers in connivance with insiders abused the algorithm and the colocation facility to make windfall profitsRamkrishna got elevated as MD and CEO of the exchange on April 1 2013 and left the bourse in 2016It was during this period that colocation was started by NSE the CBI has allegedThe action by the central agencies against Ramkrishna Subramanian and others was renewed after a report of market regulator Sebi came on February 11It charged Ramkrishna and others with alleged governance lapses in the appointment of Subramanian as the chief strategic advisor and his redesignation as group operating officer and advisor to MDRamkrishna had appointed Subramanian as her advisor who was later elevated as group operating officer GOO at a fat pay cheque of Rs 421 crore annuallyCBI sources had saidSubramanians controversial appointment and subsequent elevation besides crucial decisions were guided by an unidentified person who Ramkrishna claimed was a formless mysterious yogi dwelling in the Himalayas a probe into her email exchanges during the Sebiordered audit had statedThe ED and other agencies have widened their probe to include the mysterious yogi angle in their probesThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever