Chennai-based chartered accountant A Krishnamurthy, arrested in connection with the cash-for-transfer scam involving personal assistant of former Union Minister of State for Finance Gingee Ramachandran, was on Saturday remanded to 10-day CBI custody, which claimed that he appeared to be the "kingpin" in the case.
"He appears to be the kingpin in the racket where money was collected and passed on to public servants," S Krishnakumar, counsel for the Central Bureau of Investigation told Special Judge Prem Kumar who remanded the accused to the agency's custody till June 3.
The court had on Friday remanded three other accused in the case including the minister's PA Perumalswamy, IRS officer Anurag Vardhan and one Padmanabhan to the agency's custody.
Krishnamurthy, according to CBI, had instructed Vardhan to pay Rs 400,000 to Perumalsamy as ratification for a transfer to Mumbai.
Linking Krishnamurthy to the alleged offence, CBI counsel S Krishnakumar told the court that sleuths had recovered a fax copy of Vardhan's transfer order during raids on the premises of the accused.
The agency also seized Rs 65 lakhs (Rs 6.5 million) in cash besides undated cheques worth Rs 50 lakh (Rs 5 million), promissory notes for Rs 35 lakh (Rs 3.5 million) and other documents during the raid, he said.
Further interrogation of the accused was necessary to unravel the conspiracy, he submitted.