Mumbai:
Through a partly opened door Manisha Sharma said, "My husband Vishnu Sharma is an astrologer. He works from home, looking at people's horoscopes. He does not work anywhere else." Mrs Sharma was responding to questions about her husband's links with BJP president Nitin Gadkari. Mr Sharma himself, his wife said, was away in Jaipur.
Vishnu Sharma is listed as a Director in Ashwami Sales and marketing and Earnwell Traders, both of which have bought over Rs 5.5 crore worth of shares in Mr Gadkari's Purti Group. According to documents filed with the registrar of companies, Mr Sharma was appointed a Director of Ashwami Sales and Marketing in June this year.
Ashwami shares its company's address with two other entities - Earnwell Traders Private Limited and Swiftsol India Private Limited. But none of these companies exist at the address, 10 Govind Karman Chawl, in suburban Mumbai's Malad. It's the residence of the Soni family since the last 15 years.
Earnwell and Swiftsol together own about Rs 5 crore worth of shares in Purti.
Ever since NDTV exposed mystery companies that have invested in Nitin Gadkari's Purti Power and Sugar Private Limited, more details of these companies and its Directors are emerging everyday.
All of them point to the loopholes in Mr Gadkari's defence. On Saturday, when NDTV broke the story of mystery investors in his Purti Group, Mr Gadkari had said his investors are friendly businessmen and professionals who he turned to fund his company.
Nitin Gadkari had said, "Any individual can purchase any share from any company. Basically there are 10,000 farmers. The farmers are the members of Purti. Now on that equity it was difficult to get the loan, so we approached many people from society - industrialists, traders, businessmen, investors."
But what is emerging is that investor companies have as their directors astrologers, Mr Gadkari's personal aides and his own driver Manohar Panse. One of these companies is Ashwami, the same which has Vishnu Sharma, the astrologer as its Director.
When NDTV went to the residential address of Mr Panse in Nagpur, given by the company to the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, we were told that he did not live there. He lives exactly opposite, in Wada, Mr Gadkari's' home in Nagpur. Today though Mr Panse, we were told, was not there.
Instead, we met his son who said he had no idea if his father was a Director in one of the companies that had invested so much money in Mr Gadkari's company. Amit Panse said if his father was made Director, it was because he has been working loyally for Mr Gadkari for 22 years.
Panse was also a Director at one point in another mystery company All Wise Finvest. This company has bought shares worth Rs 3 crore into Purti Power and Sugar Private Limited.
False addresses, directors who are personal aides, directors who are clueless about the existence of these mystery companies - all raising questions about the sources of funding of Purti Group.