NEW DELHI:A COMPANY registered by Appleby in tax haven Mauritius invested in an Indian firm that is at the heart of a probe by CBI and ED into what is called the Rajasthan Ambulance scam. One of the founders of the firm is the son of Congress leader and former Union ministerVayalar Ravi.
Global Medical Response ofIndia Limited was registered in Mauritius on March 26 2008 byAppleby and classified as “high risk profile”. Reason: The company, earlier called Radec X Ltd, invested in Indian firm Ziqitza Health Care Limited which is under scrutiny of investigative agencies. Ziqitza provides ambulance services.
There are several prominent politicians named in the complaint, which was first filed bythe Rajasthan police in 2014, immediately after the BJP returned to power in the state, and laterbytheCBI in2015.Theyare: former Rajasthanchief ministerAshokGehlot; Karti Chidambaram, son of former finance minis¬ter P Chidambaram; former Union minister Sachin Pilot; and, Ravi Krishna, son of former Union ministerVayalar Ravi, who is also one of the founders of the company.
Records of the Registrar of Companies show that for the financial year ending March 31,2016, among others, Ravi Krishna remains listed as an equity shareholder.
InApril this year, the ED attached proper-ties worth Rs12 crore in connection with the scam in which the CBI alleged that the com-pany had made illegal gains of Rs 23 crore between the years 2010 and 2013.
The allegations made by the agencies are that tenders for the contracts given under the NRHM (National Rural Health Mission) were
tweaked to favour Ziqitza Health Care Limited and of subsequentlygenerating fic-titious claims and invoices, and of making claims on behalf of non-operated ambu¬lances and faking multiple trips.
The ED charged the company with pro-visions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). Appleby’s internal documents show, the Financial Services Commission (FSC) of Mauritius, on September 17,2015, red-flagged this probe.
This is also echoed in a 2016 Compliance Review ReportbyApplebywhich contains a flowchart of the antecedents of the company.
It shows that the company was originally incorporated in 2008 as RADECXLtd and, in 2010, the name was changed to Global Medical Response ofIndia Limited. The com-pany is ultimately owned by Envision Healthcare Holdings Inc, listed on the New York Stock Exchange. The Compliance report notes how ED traced the investment pattern in Ziqitza and that among the companies that invested in it through equity and pref¬erence share purchases are Grand Global Impex of Singapore; Acumen Fund Inc ofUS and, finally, Global Medical Response ofIndia Ltd of Mauritius.
Says Appleby’s memo dated January 27,
2016: “The hits (negative searches) relate to the scam involving the Company’s investee company Ziqitza Health Care Limited. Contracts awarded to the investee company are said to have been politically favored. The risk profile of the company has been raised to High and added to our Risky Client Register for frequent checks…”
There are several documents and min¬utes of meetings held by shareholders of Global Medical Response ofIndia Limited, which mention these investments made in Ziqitza. Records show that a sum of $2.09 million was invested by Global Medical Response of India in Ziqitza Healthcare Limited as 1,000 ordinary shares (0.3% share¬holding) and 43,184 Series B Preference shares (61.7% shareholding of Ziqitza Healthcare Limited). But in documents filed withAppleby, this paymentof $2.09 million is shown as “loan” payable to Global Medical Response Inc.
After the CBI action, both Karti Chidambaram and Sachin Pilot distanced themselves from the deal. Karti Chidambaramtold ThelndianExpress: “Iwas briefly a Non Executive Independent Director with the company and have never been a share holder. And as far as I know Ziqitza Health Care never had any off shore opera-tions. A company with off shore operations may have invested in them.”
For his part, Sachin Pilot said that once the company changed its status from a “non-profit” venture to a “for-profit” venture, he resigned from it and did so before he became a Member of Parliament in 2004. He said: “For under a year I was a Honorary Director with the company. This was in 2001. When they informed me that they have become a for profit company I resigned. I have never held a share in it, held a board meeting or signed anypapers.”
