Postal bribery case middlemen had many more clients

The two middlemen who initially collected Rs 2 crore on behalf of Chief Postmaster General M.S. Bali are suspected to be involved in such activities for many other senior government officials and politicians.

The two middlemen who initially collected Rs 2 crore on behalf of Chief Postmaster General M.S. Bali are suspected to be involved in such activities for many other senior government officials and politicians.

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This came to light during the Central Bureau of Investigation’s initial investigation. The CBI on Wednesday arrested Bali, Arun Dalmiya and his son Harsh. Bali heads the postal department in Maharashtra and Goa.

The CBI is now trying to identify who else the father-son duo have acted as middlemen for, and collected such bribes. The CBI also found the father-son duo run as many as 20 companies, most of them fronts.

A CBI official said they suspect the two use these companies to invest such off-the-books cash of government officials. They are also suspected to be using these companies to convert such cash into business money by investing it in various financial schemes. The Enforcement Directorate is also investigating this angle with the CBI.

During the raid on Dalmiya’s Cuffe Parade house, the CBI recovered a letter written by a Union Minister. The Dalmiyas had bragged about their political connections to the CBI’s complainant Rita Shah when they demanded the bribe from her on Bali’s behalf.

They had also told her they hardly deal in amounts as small as Rs 2 crore, and mostly go for much larger amounts. The CBI is also verifying if either of the father-son team has or earlier had an account in a foreign bank.