NSE co-location scam: CBI launches search operation in multiple cities
New Delhi(PTI): The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) launched a coordinated search operation at over 10 locations in multiple cities on Saturday in connection with the NSE co-location scam case, officials said.
The search operation will cover brokers at more than 12 premises in Mumbai, Gandhinagar, Delhi, Noida, Gurugram and Kolkata, among other cities, they added.
The central agency has filed a chargesheet against former National Stock Exchange (NSE) CEO and MD Chitra Ramkrishna and group operating officer Anand Subramanian in the case, the officials said.
The probe has so far established that from 2010 to 2015, when Ramkrishna was managing the affairs of the NSE, OPG Securities, one of the accused in the FIR, had connected to the secondary POP server on 670 trading days in the "Futures and Options" segment.
The CBI has kept the probe open into allegations of preferential access granted to certain brokers by NSE officials and undue gains made out of it during the tenure of Ramkrishna and Subramanian.
Ramkrishna, who succeeded former CEO Ravi Narain in 2013, had appointed Subramanian as her advisor, who was later elevated as the group operating officer (GOO) at a fat paycheque of Rs 4.21 crore annually, the officials said.
Subramanian's controversial appointment and subsequent elevation, besides crucial decisions, were guided by an unidentified person, who Ramkrishna claimed was a formless mysterious "yogi" (mystic) dwelling in the Himalayas, a probe into her e-mail exchanges during a SEBI-ordered audit had shown.
The central probe agency had booked stock broker Sanjay Gupta, the owner and promoter of Delhi-based OPG Securities Private Limited, in 2018 for allegedly making gains by getting early access to the stock market trading system, the officials said.
The agency is also probing unidentified officials of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), NSE, Mumbai and other unidentified people.
"It was alleged that the owner and promoter of the said private company abused the server architecture of the NSE in a conspiracy with unidentified officials of the NSE.
"It was also alleged that unidentified officials of NSE, Mumbai had provided unfair access to the said company using the co-location facility during the period 2010-2012 that enabled it to log in first to the exchange server of the stock exchange that helped to get the data before any other broker in the market," the CBI has alleged in the FIR.
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Real Madrid fines Valverde and Tchouaméni half a million euros each for altercation
Barcelona (AP): Real Madrid slapped players Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni with half-a-million-euro ($588,000) fines on Friday for their altercation during practice.
The massive fines came a day after the midfielders tussled when the team trained. Valverde said in a post on social media on Thursday that no punches were thrown. But Valverde knocked his head on a table and he suffered a small cut that required a brief hospital visit.
On social media, Valverde initially called it a “meaningless fight” with a teammate and said “everything has been blown out of proportion."
His employers, however, considered it a significant enough breach of team discipline to nail both Valverde and Tchouaméni with fines that bite even the bank account of a top soccer player. The half-a-million euro penalties reflect the reputational damage the club was enduring in a chaotic end to a disappointing season.
In a statement, the 15-time European champion said its disciplinary action was concluded after both players expressed to the club “their complete remorse for what happened and apologized to one another.”
Madrid added they also apologized to their teammates, the coaching staff and club supporters, as well as showing their willingness to accept whatever disciplinary action the club deemed “opportune.”
Tchouaméni was back training with Madrid on Friday, two days before they play at Barcelona in a clasico. Madrid has to win otherwise Barcelona will be crowned La Liga champion.
After being notified of the fine, he posted a public apology to the club and its fans on social media.
“What happened this week in training is unacceptable,” Tchouaméni wrote. "I say this while thinking about the example we are expected to set for young people, whether in football or at school.
“Above all, I am sorry for the image we projected of the club.”
Valverde was not at practice due to the head knock.
Both players are set to play in the World Cup next month, with Tchouaméni playing for France and Valverde for Uruguay.
Chaotic end to a poor season
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The run-in between the players, who for seasons have played side by side in Madrid's midfield, came after they argued this week in previous training sessions. But tempers boiled over on Thursday. Spanish media was rife with reports that the players previously disagreed over the club's decision to let coach Xabi Alonso go after just months on the job.
It was not the only altercation involving Madrid players during training this week. Álvaro Carreras confirmed he was in a “minor” incident with a teammate. Spanish media said he and fellow defender Antonio Rüdiger got into a scuffle.
Álvaro Arbeloa, the coach who was promoted from Madrid's reserve team when Alonso was fired in January, will face tough questions on what went wrong inside the changing room when he gives a press conference on Saturday ahead of the clasico at Camp Nou.
Madrid is facing a second consecutive campaign without a major trophy amid rumors in the Spanish media that club president Florentino Pérez is considering bringing back Jose Mourinho to straighten out his underperforming team.
