Probe Agency ED Files Chargesheet Against Robert Vadra In Money Laundering Case

A chargesheet has been filed against businessman Robert Vadra in a money laundering case involving UK-based arms dealer Sanjay Bhandari.

The chargesheet against Vadra, who is the husband of Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, was filed by the Enforcement Directorate in Delhi's Rouse Avenue Court. The matter will be taken up by the court on December 6.

In July, Vadra had been questioned for five hours by the agency in connection with the case, which concerns two properties at 19, Bryanston Square and Grosvenor Hill Court, 13, Bourdon Street, in London, owned by Bhandari. The ED has contended that these are Vadra's benami properties.

ED sources had told NDTV earlier that while the Bryanston Square property was acquired by Bhandari in 2009, the funds for doing so were given by Vadra. They said the property was later renovated on Vadra's directions and the businessman stayed there on multiple occasions when he visited London.

The two London properties are among a few being probed by the ED as "proceeds of crime" under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

The probe also covers the role of NRI businessman CC Thampi, who is believed to have facilitated certain property transactions through a Dubai-based company.

Details

The case began with a letter sent by the Income Tax Department to the financial crimes agency on September 22, 2016. On February 9, 2017, another letter arrived at the ED office from the Income Tax Office in Jhandewalan, stating that arms dealer Bhandari had concealed his foreign assets, specifically foreign bank accounts and a London property.

On April 3, 2018, the department informed the ED that it had received approval under Section 55 to prosecute Sanjay Bhandari under Section 51(1) of the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act, 2015. This crime also falls under the "Scheduled Offence" category under the PMLA.

During the investigation, the Income Tax Department raided Bhandari's premises and digital data recovered from there led to a twist.

The emails contained in the data revealed complete details of a property in Bryanston Square, London, valued at 1.9 million pounds (approximately Rs 22 crore). The names in the emails included those of Robert Vadra and his assistant Manoj Arora.

Agencies claim that the emails reveal that Vadra was "beneficially controlling" this London property and was responsible for its financing and renovation.

Vadra has consistently denied the allegations and claimed he was being "hounded and harassed".

Earlier Chargesheet

In July, the ED had also filed a chargesheet against Vadra and 11 others in connection with a Gurugram land deal case. 

Skylight Hospitality Pvt Ltd, a company in which Mr Vadra was a director, had bought 3.5 acres of land in Gurugram in Haryana - ruled by the Congress at the time, with Bhupinder Hooda as the chief minister - from a firm named Onkareshwar Properties for Rs 7.5 crore in 2007.

Four years later, after getting permission to develop an apartment complex, the land was sold to real estate major DLF for Rs 58 crore. After the deal was flagged by IAS officer Ashok Khemka, the BJP alleged corruption had taken place and that land was "stolen" from farmers to give to Vadra.

The businessman has denied these allegations, as has Hooda, and said the "proceedings are nothing more than an extension of the political witchhunt by the present government".