The Enforcement Directorate (ED) registered two money laundering cases against former Union Minister Dayanidhi Maran and his brother Kalanidhi on Wednesday in the multi-crore 2G licence scam.

The case, registered on Tuesday under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), pertains to an alleged illegal gratification of about Rs 550 crore allegedly received by the Maran brothers in the Aircel-Maxis deal.

The case states that Maxis made the Rs 550 crore investment in Sun TV and Sun DTH in return for a stake in Sivashankaran-owned Aircel. Reportedly, the process of granting 2G licence to Aircel was kept pending till an agreement was signed between Maxis and promoters of Aircel for ownership change in respect to these companies.

The case also refers to charges of excess spectrum hoarding by Bharti Cellular, Vodafone Essar, Hutchison Max and Sterling Cellular.

It accuses former telecom secretary Shyamal Ghosh and DoT official JR Gupta of giving spectrum to the telecom companies at below-market price.

The CBI has, meanwhile, said it will send Letter Rogatory to the Malaysian Government for permission to interrogate T Anantha Krishnan.

Maran, a former Union Telecom Minister, had quit from the Cabinet last year after allegations were made that he had favoured Malaysian firm Maxis over Aircel in grant of telecom licences in 2004-05.