BCCI says payment by Multi Screen Media was in illegal manner

Mumbai: Multi Screen Media, Singapore, was made to pay Rs 425 crore to the World Sports Group for relinquishing its IPL media rights as ‘facilitation fees’. MSM is a subsidiary of Sony Television.

The BCCI took objection to this payment when it filed a case against Lalit Modi. According to the ED’s probe so far, and the BCCI’s original complaint, this payment was made in an illegal manner and not as per the agreement between the cricket board and the WSG.

“The payment should have gone to the BCCI rather than the WSG, and MSM was forced to fork out a huge amount. Our probe has also revealed that WSG was brought in by Lalit Modi just to park the rights with them,” said an ED official.

“Lalit Modi might be a beneficiary in the money that was paid by MSM to WSG. We are also examining the original contract between WSG and BCCI,” the official said.
This payment is also believed to have violated various sections of the Foreign Exchange Management Act.