[Assam] ‘Gogoi family has Rs 18-crore property in US’
Chan Mahanta
cmahanta at gmail.com
Sun Jan 9 10:56:43 PST 2011
I did a little quick math and the total value of these houses , approx. 18 crore rupees, is really a puny
amount by local standards, as far as housing value goes, $ 500,000 or so. A 3 BR. condominium
like the one at Mountain View CA, itself would be almost 1.5 to 2 times the combined value of
the three ( or is it four) houses/condos's reported value ( $ 600,000 to $ 1,000,000).
So, for one thing, the reported values mean little. For another, that CM Gogoi's son-in-law,
from published accounts a Google executive, probably makes enough on HIS OWN to be able to
afford a $ 1,000,000 loan on one ( or a collection of houses) described here. People buy houses
with long-term loans here, not with hard cash.
Therefore, the value of the houses described could NOT be construed to point to the notion
of assets disproportionate to the son-in-law's assets, leading to casting aspersions on CM Gogoi
or his wife being the financiers, from legitimate or corrupt sources.
That may be the good news for CM Gogoi and his wife.
The bad news probably lies elsewhere: the Ownership of the houses. Who is/are the Owners of these
houses? The daughter and the son-in-law? The CM or his wife?
Why that matters are:
A: The son-in-law and the daughter are US residents, if not citizens. He probably earns enough, and she may too,
to add to a tidy amount to be able to get a pretty good sized loan for a house in a high market value area like
Mountatin View, California and Cambridge, MA ( home to MIT and Harvard etc.). But not so for foreigners, like
Tarun Gogoi or his wife, UNLESS they also have US Permanent Resident Visas ( Green Cards. They could
however. That would be interesting to know if they do. Somebody should ask the CM that question.
B: If they are not green-card holders, they probably bought them for cash. There is no reason for the son-in-law or
daughter to purchase houses, on loan, for TG or his wife. If any of these houses were bought with cash ( not on loan), that
will be a good indication that someone other than the son-in-law or the daughter provided the cash. Be it the CM , or his wife,
or some Hawala trader or some business owner or whoever.
This could be easily verified from publicly available info. The lien-holders' names will be on the Titles of these houses
if they are purchased with bank loans.
Finally, EVEN if these houses were bought for cash and from corrupt sources, the amounts are small fry, compared to those
talked about in reference to Himanta Sarma for one. I am sure there are others. In that I agree with MM's view:
"See how large hearted he is!
He allows his henchman to take 4000Crores and he keeps only 18 crores as small tips."
Just kidding!
On Jan 8, 2011, at 11:52 PM, Nava Thakuria wrote:
>
> Gogoi involved in embezzlement: KMSS
>
> GUWAHATI, Jan 8 – Peasant organisation Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti today
> alleged that Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi is involved in embezzling the public
> money of the State and part of the money laundered by him has been siphoned off
> to the US to procure property there in the names of members of his family.
>
>
> ‘Gogoi family has Rs 18-crore property in US’
> The peasant organisation also demanded a CBI inquiry into the allegation and
> dared the Chief Minister to make a public statement on the source of the money
> used in procuring property in the US.
>
> Addressing mediapersons at a press conference here this afternoon, KMSS
> secretary Akhil Gogoi alleged that the Chief Minister has several houses in the
> US in the names of his wife Dolly Gogoi (12700 W Dodge Road, Omaha NE 69154),
> daughter Chandrima Gogoi (701 Berry Ave, Los Angeles C A 94024) and son-in-law
> Prasenjit Phukan (178 Ownes Ct Mountain View C A 94043; 143 Albany St, Cambridge
> MA 02139 and Los Altos CA 94022).
>
> The money value of these houses when added together would be Rs 17, 88, 45, 050.
> His daughter had declared while acquiring the property that her average annual
> income was Rs 64, 42, 650, while her husband Prasenjit Phukan had made three
> declarations stating that his average annual incomes were Rs 64, 42, 650, Rs 34,
> 36,050 and Rs 72, 71, 250. Chief Minster's wife Dolly Gogoi declared that her
> average annual income was Rs 29, 18, 650.
>
> The peasant organisation alleged that the Chief Minister requisitioned the
> services of his 'scam-tainted' Ministerial colleague Himanta Biswa Sarma to
> transfer part of the looted money to the US through hawala. This is why the
> Chief Minister has so far been maintaining silence over the issue of Himanta
> Biswa Sarma embezzling the public money of the State.
>
> The peasant organisation has collected the information concerning the US
> property of the Chief Minister's family by using the website intelius. com, said
> the KMSS secretary.
>
> It has hit out at Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) chief Bhubaneswar
> Kalita for his 'halfhearted approach' in the matter of the corruption indulged
> in by Himanta Biswa Sarma.
>
> The peasant organisation is holding a massive demonstration against corruption
> at the Dispur Last Gate from 11 am on January 10 and it has appealled to all
> patriotic people to take part in the programme. Noted RTI activist Arvind
> Kezriwal and national convenor of the National Alliance of People's Movement Dr
> Sandip Pandey will take part in the demonstration, said the KMSS secretary.
>
>
>
> GUWAHATI, Jan 8: Launching a scathing attack on Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi,
> Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS) general secretary Akhil Gogoi today gave a
> detailed account of property worth around Rs 18 crore in the form of houses
> owned by the Chief Minister’s wife, daughter and son-in-law in the US. The KMSS
> leader has dared the three to disclose their sources of income. He has also
> demanded a CBI inquiry into the matter in order to unmask the truth.
> Addressing a press conference at the Guwahati Press Club today, the KMSS leader
> said: “According to documents produced by Gogoi’s wife Dolly Gogoi and daughter
> Chandrima Gogoi while purchasing one house each in the US, their annual incomes
> are Rs 29.18 lakh and Rs 64.42 lakh respectively. Gogoi’s son-in-law Prasenjit
> Phukan, however, showed three different annual incomes — Rs 64.42 lakh, Rs 34.36
> lakh and Rs 72.71 lakh — while purchasing three different houses in the US. I
> appeal to the three to make their sources of annual income public.”
> “We have no way out but to unmask the Chief Minister who has not paid any heed
> to the deadline set by us for him to take action against his corrupt Cabinet
> colleague, Himanta Biswa Sarma. It was followed by a 48-hour deadline set by us
> for Gogoi to reply as to why he was not taking any action against the corrupt
> minister though we had brought many corrupt practices of the minister to light.
> We have to open our mouth today as the deadline set for the Chief Minister is
> over,” Akhil Gogoi said, and added that minister Himanta Biswa Sarma was the key
> man behind all the scams that had taken place during the tenure of Tarun Gogoi.
> “Though we have exposed all the corrupt practices of Himanta Biswa Sarma, Gogoi
> doesn’t take action against him as he is afraid of being unmasked if the
> minister opens his mouth.”
> The KMSS leader said: “Since when we have started our tirade against corruption,
> people, including those staying abroad, have started to come on their own and
> feed us with information. With the information received from NRIs, we have
> approached the US embassy that has shown us the way to proceed. By making online
> payment through a website (www.intelius.com) by credit cards, we have got access
> to the documents of purchase of the houses by the family members of the Chief
> Minister.”
> The KMSS leader further said that apprehensive of being blackmailed by Himanta
> Biswa Sarma, Gogoi ‘‘is now trying to keep Sarma at a safe distance from all
> matters relating to the State administration’’. Himanta Biswa Sarma, according
> to the KMSS leader, is the key man behind sending the ill-gotten money from the
> State to foreign countries through hawala. “We will soon file cases against
> Sarma in the Supreme Court and the High Court,” he added.
>
> Coming down heavily on Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) president
> Bhubaneswar Kalita, Akhil Gogoi said: “The Congress has failed to take action
> against corrupt Himanta Biswa Sarma due to the weak leadership of Kalita.” He
> also took a dig at the opposition parties by saying that despite the KMSS
> exposing a large number of corrupt practices of the State Government, the
> Opposition had failed to put adequate pressure on the government to act against
> corrupt ministers.
> Meanwhile, reacting to Akhil Gogoi’s revelations, AGP president Chandra Mohan
> Patowary said: “Last year, the Chief Minister had announced that his government
> would construct houses for flood- and erosion-affected people of the State.
> Though the erosion-affected people have not got the promised houses, Gogoi has
> successfully built a number of houses in the US. This is the real man hiding
> within ‘clean’ Gogoi.”
>
> Akhil dares CM to reveal assets- RTI activist demands CBI inquiry
>
> Akhil Gogoi shows a photograph of Tarun Gogoi’s property in the US at the press
> conference. Picture by Eastern Projections
>
> Guwahati, Jan. 8: Peasant leader and RTI activist Akhil Gogoi today claimed that
> family members and relatives of chief minister Tarun Gogoi possessed property
> worth over Rs 17 crore in the US and dared the latter to make public the sources
> of the assets, including five houses.
> Akhil, also the general secretary of Krishak Mukti Sangram Samity (KMSS), said
> there were five houses in the name of the chief minister’s wife Dolly Gogoi,
> daughter Chandrima and son-in-law Prasenjit Phukan at different locations in the
> US.
>
> “The information collected by us showed that there was a house in the name of
> Dolly Gogoi at Omaha and another at Los Altos in his daughter’s name. Three
> houses in the name of his son-in-law Prasenjit Phukan are located at Cambridge,
> Mountain View and Los Altos. We have strong suspicion that the property was
> procured with public money and hence we dare the chief minister to let the
> people of Assam know the source. We also demand a CBI inquiry into the assets,”
> Akhil Gogoi said at a press conference.
> Giving details and producing photographs of the houses, Akhil said the People’s
> Interest Research Group, formed by the KMSS, collected the information with the
> help of the American embassy and an information commerce company, intelius.com,
> which provides consumers and businesses with predictive intelligence for
> important decisions.
> The chief minister’s office said Gogoi would comment after his return from New
> Delhi. Media adviser Debo Bora told The Telegraph, “The chief minister will
> react once he is back.”
> Akhil alleged that huge corruption had taken place during Gogoi’s tenure. “The
> Congress high command, including Sonia Gandhi, has been claiming that the party
> is committed to fight corruption but we have seen no action against Gogoi,
> health minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and other ministers involved in scams in
> Dima Hasao district, Karbi Anglong and other departments,” the RTI activist
> said.
> Akhil, also the recipient of two national RTI awards, said they would launch a
> massive campaign against the Tarun Gogoi government ahead of the forthcoming
> Assembly elections.
> “We will organise a dharna and observe a hatred day on Monday at Dispur Last
> Gate to protest the massive corruption. Activist Sandip Pandey and Arvin
> Kejriwal will take part and we request all concerned citizens to join us and
> protest the corruption of the Congress government in Assam,” he said.
> Akhil said four cases would be filed against Himanta Biswa Sarma and Tarun Gogoi
> in the Supreme Court and Gauhati High court soon relating to disproportionate
> assets and criminal cases.
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> assam mailing list
> assam at assamnet.org
> http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org
More information about the Assam
mailing list