The Enforcement Directorate on Friday (ED) has registered a money laundering case against Karti Chidambaram, son of former Finance Minister P Chidambaram, two days after the CBI's raided his premises in connection with a graft case relating to FIPB clearance granted to INX media in 2007 when Chidambaram was Finance Minister.
The agency is expected to attach the properties of the accused under Prevention of Money laundering Act (PMlA)
Chidambaram has rejected the reports that his son Karti had “escaped” to london on Thursday after the CBI raid. According to the former Finance Minister, son has gone to london as part of pre-planned assignments.
The ED officials said the central probe agency registered an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR), ED's equivalent of a police FIR, against the accused named in the CBI complaint including Karti, INX media and its directors, Peter and Indrani Mukerjea, and others. They said the ED will probe the alleged “proceeds of crime” generated in this case and may also attach assets of the various accused.
The ED had provided information about the alleged illegal payments made by INX media, based on which the CBI had filed its FIR. The CBI, on Tuesday, had carried out searches at the homes and offices of Karti across four cities for allegedly receiving money from the media firm owned by the Mukerjeas to scuttle a tax probe.
As per the CBI FIR, INX Media had got approval from the FIPB for inviting foreign investment for `4.6 crore in 2007. But Income Tax in 2008 found that the TV channel company brought in as much as `305 crore through the FIPV route. After getting the IT notice, Peter and Indrani allegedly approached Karti and paid him around `5 crore to get a post-facto approval from FIPB illegally.
The CBI FIR was filed out against Karti, his company Chess Management Services, and Advantage Strategic Consulting, the Mukerjeas (currently in jail on charges of murder their daughter Sheena Bora), INX Media, Advantage Strategic Consulting Services and its director Padma Vishwanathan.