Probe agency attaches Rs 1.16cr assets of Karti

NEW DELHI: The ED has provisionally attached bank accounts with fixed deposits and savings of about Rs 1.16 crore belonging to Karti Chidambaram, son of former finance minister P Chidambaram, and a company associated with him on charges of money laundering in the Aircel-Maxis case.

The agency has linked the alleged “proceeds of crime” with the foreign direct investment (FDI) approval granted by the Foreign Investment Promotion Board in the Aircel-Maxis case in 2006 when P Chidambaram was the finance minister (FM).

The agency has accused Karti of having received payments in companies associated with him in lieu of favours granted by his father to multi-national companies during his tenure as the FM.

The ED has attached movable assets to the tune of Rs 90 lakh held by Karti as fixed deposits and balance in savings bank accounts and another Rs 26 lakh in FDs and bank balances of Advantage Strategic Consulting Pvt Ltd (ASCPL), a company associated with him.

In the Aircel-Maxis case, the ED has claimed that “although the FDI was of Rs 3,500 crore and within the competence of the cabinet committee on economic Affairs (CCEA), the proposal was wrongly projected as an investment of Rs 180 crore so that it need not be sent to the CCEA to avoid detailed scrutiny”.

Chidambaram as the then FM had granted the FDI approval to Aircel-Maxis on March 13, 2006 even as he was competent only to grant approval to FDIs of up to Rs 600 crore. “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 said , 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.

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