The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached assets worth Rs 54 crore in India, UK and Spain, belonging to former finance minister P Chidambaram’s son Karti and his firm, in the INX media case.
The central probe agency issued a provisional order under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) for attachment of Indian assets in Kodaikanal and Ooty in Tamil Nadu and a flat in Delhi’s Jorbagh.
A cottage and house in Somerset in the UK and a tennis club located in Barcelona, Spain, have also been attached as part of the same order, the agency said.
Fixed Deposits worth Rs 90 lakh, kept in a bank in Chennai in the name of Advantage Strategic Consulting Private Limited (ASCPL), have also been attached.
The assets are in the name of Karti and ASCPL, the firm allegedly linked to him. “The attached assets collectively amount to Rs 54 crore,” the ED stated.
The ED had registered a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act into this deal on the basis of a CBI FIR and had alleged that irregularities took place in the FIPB clearance to INX Media for receiving overseas funds to the tune of Rs 305 crore in 2007 when Chidambaram was the finance minister.
Earlier also the ED had grilled Karti in the past and attached some bank accounts and properties.
Reacting to the ED move, Karti tweeted: “A bizarre and outlandish ‘Provisional Attachment Order’ which is not based on law or facts but on crazy conjectures. This is meant only to grab ‘headlines’. The ‘order’ will not withstand judicial scrutiny, review or appeal. Will approach the appropriate legal forum.”
