The much awaited moment has come. Former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram’s family has been booked under Black Money Act for illegal assets in several countries and for operating illegal foreign bank accounts. On Friday, the Income Tax department filed four charge sheets in a Chennai city court against Chidambaram’s wife Nalini, son Karti and his wife Srinidhi under Section 50 of the Black Money Act, which implies a fine of 120 percent and 10 years imprisonment.

The present charge sheets are for not disclosing, either partly or fully, immovable assets like the one at Cambridge in the United Kingdom worth Rs. 5.37 crores, property worth Rs. 80 lakhs in the same country and assets worth Rs.3.28 crore in the U.S., said the charge sheets[1]. All the accused are asked to appear before the Court on June 11. Chidambaram’s family tried every trick in the book to evade from the case by filing frivolous petitions and last week the Madras High Court rejected them.

Apart from the property in Cambridge, Karti Chidambaram’s investment of Rs.3.28 crores and Rs.80 lakhs in Nano Holdings LLC in USA and assets and accounts in Totus Tennis in UK also came under the charges framed by Income Tax under Black Money Act[2]. Karti’s firm Chess Global Advisory is also caught by the Income Tax sleuths.

As per the Income Tax estimates, Chidambaram family’s illegal assets in 14 countries and 21 foreign bank accounts are expected to be worth three billion dollars. Summary of these ill-gotten assets was detailed by PGurus in an article titled Chidambara Rahasya[3].

Chidambaram family’s illegal assets came to light after the joint raid of Enforcement Directorate and Income Tax in connection with the Aircel-Maxis scam in December 2015. Chidambaram was calling favors in the Finance Ministry to hush up the findings. The Income Tax documents were made public by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy in February 2017[4]. He later filed a complaint to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for registering cases under new Black Money and new Benami Acts[5].

Even after Prime Minister’s strict directions, some of the top officials in the Finance Ministry were playing tricks to delay the probes and giving space for the accused to approach the courts[6]. It is expected that after the imposition of Black Money Act, the agencies will invoke the new Benami Act one of the most corrupt families in the country.

References:

[1] Swamy exposes hidden property of Chidambaram in Cambridge & kickbacks taken by son Karti – Mar 14, 2017, PGurus.com

[2] IT unearths a possible Five Million Euro investment by Karti Chidambaram in Hotel Mozart in Croatia – Apr 12, 2017, PGurus.com

[3] Chidambara Rahasya – Details of huge secret assets & foreign bank accounts of Chidambaram family – Mar 15, 2017, PGurus.com

[4] Subramanian Swamy exposes 21 secret foreign bank accounts of Karti Chidambaram – Feb 20, 2017, PGurus.com

[5] Swamy urges PM to prosecute Chidambaram and family under the new Black Money and Benami Acts also – Mar 26, 2017, PGurus.com

[6] Sleazy officer U S Kumawat shunted out after PM’s intervention – Mar 30, 2018, PGurus.com