Karti Chidambaram (PTI file photo)

NEW DELHI: Former Finance Minister P Chidambaram came under direct attack from the Enforcement Directorate on Monday after the agency attached fixed deposits and bank balance amounting to Rs 1.16 crore of Karti P Chidambaram and his associated company in a money laundering case. The agency has accused Karti of having received monetary compensation in lieu of favours granted by his father to multi-national companies during his tenure as Finance Minister.

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The ED has attached movable assets to the tune of Rs 90 lakh held by Karti in the form of fixed deposits (FDs) and balance in saving bank accounts and another Rs 26 lakh in FDs and bank balances of a company (ASCPL) associated with him.

In the Aircel-Maxis case, the ED has claimed that though the Aircel-Maxis FDI approval was for Rs 3,500 crore, the proposal was wrongly projected as an investment of Rs 180 crore so that it need not be sent to the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs to avoid detailed scrutiny.

“The FDI included indirect investments by way of trust issue of preference shares of $375 million, over Rs 1,650 crore, and this fact was concealed,” the ED has said in a press note released soon after the attachment order on Monday, accusing the former FM of misleading the CCEA to favour the Malaysian telecom.

“Investigation revealed payment of Rs 26 lakh by Aircel Televentures Ltd, the seller of equity shares in this deal, to one Advantage Strategic Consulting Pvt Ltd (ASCPL) within a few days of the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) approval,” the ED has claimed, linking the alleged remittance to a company controlled by son Karti P Chidambaram.

“The probe also revealed that CMSPL, a company promoted by Karti P Chidambaram and A Palaniappan, nephew of P Chidambaram, received a sum of $2 lakh approx from Maxis group allegedly for a legal compliance software. Investigation further revealed that the software was designed only for use in India, with reference to various laws applicable in India and hence was of no use to a Malaysian company in Malaysia,” according to an ED official.

The agency has further said that Karti acquired a property in Gurugram which was then rented to a multi-national company to whom FDI approval had been granted in 2013 when P Chidambaram was the FM. “However, the property was disposed by Karti who also closed certain bank accounts in order to frustrate the process of attachment,” the agency has said.

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In Video: ED attaches Rs 1.16 crore assets of Karti Chidambaram