Recovery of US$5 billion worth US treasury papers in the custody of one Mr Ramalingam of Coimbatore by IT authorities has raised doubts whether these could be part of the Nigerian Scam proceeds that Mr Ramalingam might have received. There is also a speculation that he could be a front for some body else.
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It is also likely that the Bonds are fake. There was a time when Coimbatore was famous for fake currency notes. If the industry have graduated to printing of fake Foreign Government securities, it could be a natural progression of an old skill.
The IT authorities are presently ascertaining the genuinity of the bonds which will throw valuable light on the nature of the crime involved here.
The Nigerian scams have been in the region of US$ 100 million and have never known to have been carried out with an exchange of genuine looking US securities. Hence this possibility is not considered plausible.
The possibility of Mr Ramalingam as a front man is a possibility but if so the principal has to be a Tamil Political leader. Considering the value of the assets seized, it appears that the amount is beyond the value of any Tamil industrialist or politician.
The most likely possibility is therefore that the bonds are fake bonds and may be a preparation for a massive fraud involving international dimensions including an LTTE angle.
Amidst all the speculation, it is also theoretically possible that the person might have make a killing in commodity market of unimaginable proportions. However even such earning becomes an acqusition against the law of the land at least from the IT angle.
We need to wait and see the developments as it appears to be a very interesting crime with different dimensions.
Naavi
