New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed a supplementary prosecution complaint accusing Robert Vadra, the son-in-law of former Congress president Sonia Gandhi, of renovating and staying at a London property in connection with a money laundering case linked to alleged middleman and absconding arms dealer Sanjay Bhandari.
Investigation revealed that Bhandari had “various undisclosed foreign income and assets including following properties at no. 12 Bryanston Square, London and 6 Grosvenor Hill Court, London”, it said.
The central agency called these assets “proceeds of crime”.
“Enforcement Directorate has filed a Supplementary Prosecution Complaint on 21/11/2023 against Cheruvathur Chakutty Thampi (C.C. Thampi), a UAE-based NRI and Sumit Chadha, a UK national under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 before the Hon’ble Special Court (PMLA), Rouse Avenue, New Delhi. The Hon’ble Special Court has taken cognizance of the same on 22/12/2023,” the agency said in a statement.
In June 2020, a prosecution complaint was filed against Bhandari and his three offshore entities and two other accused Sanjeev Kapoor and Anirudh Wadhwa.
“The Competent Authority in the U.K. has also ordered for extradition of Sanjay Bhandari and he has filed an appeal challenging the extradition order before the Hon’ble High Court of U.K. In the matter, properties worth Rs 26.55 crore belonging to Sanjay Bhandari held in India were attached,” the ED statement said.
The agency said that the probe has revealed that Thampi is a “close associate of Vadra”.
“Vadra not only renovated the aforesaid property at 12 Bryanston Square, London through Sumit Chadha but also stayed in the same. Further, Mr Robert Vadra as well as Thampi. Thampi purchased a huge chunk of land at Faridabad and had financial transactions with each other. Further investigation is under progress,” it alleged.
Also Read: ED can continue probe under PMLA even if police drop scheduled offences, says SC
Details of the case
The ED started a probe against Bhandari and others based on a 2018 complaint by the Income Tax (I-T) department under Section 51 of the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act, 2015.
The charges are yet to be framed as Bhandari who has been declared as a “proclaimed offender” in India and against whom non-bailable warrants have been issued, is yet to be extradited. Vadra was earlier questioned by the agency in regard to this case.
The alleged link between Thampi and Vadra surfaced in 2020 with the ED claiming to have found a connection between the NRI businessman and Vadra after Thampi’s arrest under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
At the centre of this investigation is a property that stands at Bryanston Square in central London which the agency claims to have been held by different companies including by one of Thampi’s on behalf of Vadra since 2009. Vadra is accused of buying by “round-tripping alleged kickbacks from two petroleum and defence deals” during the Congress-led UPA rule.
This property is ““beneficially controlled” by Vadra — that he owns it by “proxy”, according to the ED.
Case dates back to 2008
The ED started investigation into a petro-chemical complex in a special economic zone in Gujarat’s Dahej which ONGC decided to build in 2008. In December that year, the ONGC commissioned a part of the project to Samsung Engineering, which in turn hired Sanjay Bhandari’s Dubai-based firm Santech International FZC for consultancy services.
Samsung had paid nearly $5 million to Santech in June 2009 as part of alleged ‘kickbacks’.
Bhandari’s Santech then purchased the property — 12 Bryanston Square London in June 2009 from Vertex Private Limited.
Santech, according to the ED, transferred £1.9 million to Vortex and later all the shares of the latter were purchased by Thampi-controlled Sky Lite Investments FZE Dubai.
The ED alleged that purported mails exchanged by Vadra, his assistant Manoj Arora, Bhandari and Chadha show the plush property was renovated at a cost of nearly £66,000 on behalf of Vadra in 2010.
Bhandari, the ED alleges, sold this property for £1.9 million to Mayfair FZE Sharjah, Dubai in 2010 for the same purchase amount. The amount received by Vertex at the time of the initial deal of the property was again transferred to Santech in June 2010.
(Edited by Tony Rai)