Today the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) team searched the residence and offices of Karti, son of former union minister P Chidambaram. The raid was in connection with the criminal misconduct in the grant of Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) approval. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) also formally named Karti as one of those accused of criminal conspiracy, who is involved into the criminal misconduct in a 2007 sale of stakes in INX Media to offshore entities. CBI also named INX promoter Peter Mukherjee and his wife Indrani at that time. Both Peter and Indrani are now on trial for the murder of her daughter from a previous relationship.
The CBI raided at least 14 locations in Chidambaram’s home in Chennai. The congress leader, Hitting out at the govt. for the raids, said that government is trying to silence his voice by cracking down on his family. According to him, “Using CBI and other agencies, the government is targeting my son Karti and his friends. The government’s aim is to stop me from writing against them and silence my voice for the truth, as it has tried to do in the cases of leaders of Opposition parties, journalists, columnists and other organizations. But I will continue to speak and write”.
Today’s dawn raids saw officers swoop down on the locations across Gurugram, New Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai, escalating pressure on the senior Congress leader who has been a vocal opponent of PM Modi’s government. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) also investigated the sprawling mansion of the Mukherjees in Mumbai.
The search is the part of a wider investigation into whether Mr. Chidambaram misused his office as finance minister in the previous govt. to secure payoffs for his son Karti in exchange of foreign investments approvals. CBI has also alleged that recommendation for FIPL proposal of INX Media Company was approved by Chidambaram, who was finance minister at that time.
The CBI agency has received an information that INX Media P Limited, incorporated on August 8, 2006, under the provisions of the Companies Act 1956 (CA 1956), which was having its registered office at Phoenix Mills compound, approached the Chairman of Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB), which comes under the DoEA of ministry of finance seeking approval of the FIP board for permission to issue by way of a preferential allotment, in one or more tranches.
In April 2017, a show-cause notice had been issued to Mr. Karti and a firm (M/s Advantage Strategic Consulting Private Limited) purportedly linked to him for alleged Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) violations of Rs 45 crore. Another reason for investigation of Mr. Karti is a money laundering charge in the Aircel-Maxis case.
The Enforcement Directorate said that a show-cause notice has been issued to M/s Advantage Strategic Consulting Private Limited (ASCPL), its directors, CEO and also to Chidambaram’s son Mr. Karti who appears to be the director controller and ultimate beneficiary in these regards.
