The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday alleged that Robert Vadra, the husband of Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi, "renovated and stayed" at a London property which is under scanner in a money laundering case against alleged middleman Sanjay Bhandari. After Bhandari fled to the United Kingdom in 2016, the British government authorised his extradition to India in January this year in response to a formal request from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the ED.
Vadra's name cropped up first time in this case
The businessman is being investigated by the two federal agencies on allegations of money laundering and tax evasion for allegedly possessing undeclared assets overseas. This is the first time that the federal agency has named Vadra in this case. In a statement, the ED said that it has submitted a new charge sheet in this case against UK national Sumit Chadha and UAE-based NRI businessman CC, also known as Cheruvathur Chakutty Thampi. The probe agency claimed Thampi was a "close associate" of Vadra when he was arrested in January 2020. Thampi is currently out on bail.
What did ED claim?
"Sanjay Bhandari held various undisclosed foreign income and assets including the following properties at no 12 Bryanston Square, London and 6 Grosvenor Hill Court, London. These assets are proceeds of crime as per the provisions of the PMLA and C C Thampi and Sumit Chadha have been found to be involved in the concealment and use of these proceeds of crime," the ED charged. It further stated that the probe found Thampi a close associate of Robert Vadra.
"Robert Vadra not only renovated the aforesaid property at 12 Bryanston Square, London through Sumit Chadha but also stayed in the same. Vadra as well as CC Thampi purchased a huge chunk of land at Faridabad (near Delhi) and had financial transactions with each other," the ED claimed. Vadra, the son-in-law of former Congress president Sonia Gandhi, has been questioned by the ED in the past and he has denied wrongdoing. The ED said the Delhi court took cognisance of the supplementary prosecution complaint, filed under the criminal sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in November, on December 22.
About the money laundering case
It should be mentioned here that the ED filed the criminal case of money laundering against Bhandari and others in February 2017 taking cognisance of an Income Tax Department charge sheet filed against him under the anti-black money law of 2015. The probe agency told the court in its supplementary charge sheet that Chadha "assisted Sanjay Bhandari in concealment, acquisition, possession and use of proceeds of crime and management/ maintenance of properties beneficially owned by accused Sanjay Bhandari.
(With inputs from PTI)
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