ED raids Karti Chidambaram's premises in Delhi, Chennai
Chidambarams continue to be haunted by scams. Now, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has conducted raids at various premises linked to Karti Chidambaram, senior Congress leader P Chidambaram's son. Raids are being conducted on his Delhi and Chennai properties in relation to the Aircel-Maxis case. Moreover, raids were also conducted in relation to the INX Media money laundering case. What are these cases? Read on.
What is the Aircel-Maxis case?
In 2006, Maxis acquired 74% of C Sivasankaran (Siva)-owned Aircel's shares. This case relates to fraudulent transactions conducted during the course of this deal. It came to light during 2G scam investigations. In 2011, once in the dock, Siva revealed that he was coerced into selling the Aircel stake. In 2012, BJP's Subramanian Swamy made explosive claims, revealing financial transactions between Karti and Siva.
What is Karti Chidambaram's involvement?
Swamy alleged that Karti-owned Advantage Strategic Consulting Pvt. Ltd. had given Rs. 26L in loans to Siva's Aircel. He alleged this payment was made for Karti to acquire 5% Aircel shares, before Maxis acquired it. At that time, Chidambaram was in-charge of Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB), which reportedly delayed the clearance until Karti acquired the shares, and in turn, profited from the sale.
What about the INX media money-laundering case?
The other case refers to the alleged criminal conspiracy by INX media in collusion with Karti to gain FIPB approval for foreign investments. INX media was formerly owned by Peter and Indrani Mukerjea. In 2007, INX had brought in Rs. 305cr through foreign investment, even though FIPB had given approval for only Rs. 4.62cr. Apparently, Karti influenced FIPB to allow the investment.
How did the Chidambarams benefit from this?
Here again, Karti was able to influence FIPB because his father Chidambaram was in-charge. Karti purportedly received Rs. 10L from INX as "consultancy charges," through Advantage Strategic Consulting Pvt. Ltd. Further, CBI alleged that invoices of Rs. 3.5cr were paid to companies where Chidambaram was directly and indirectly involved. In 2017, ED registered a case against Karti and others.
Why were these fresh raids conducted?
In the INX media case, Karti failed to appear before ED on the decided date. Fresh summons have been issued for January 16. Now, ED is investigating how FIPB approval was granted by Chidambaram. Further, Karti has been on an overdrive. He has allegedly been de-attaching himself from bank accounts/ properties that connect him to shady deals. Similar raid was also conducted in December'17.
