The CBI has questioned lawyer Nalini Chidam-baram, wife of former Finance Minister P Chidambaram, in connection with the multi-crore inter-state Saradha chit fund scam.
Nalini’s questioning comes days after her husband was named in the CBI chargesheet in the Aircel-Maxis deal in which the agency is probing the clearance granted to Maxis for the takeover of Aircel during his stint as Finance Minister.Chidambaram’s son Karti is under the CBI’s scanner for alleged transactions during the FIPB clearance to Maxis.
CBI sources said Nalini was examined by the agency in Chennai on Saturday evening. The CBI quizzed her about the allegations levelled by scam mastermind and Saradha Group chairman Sudipta Sen about a massive legal fee paid to her by Saradha Group.In a letter to the CBI last year, Sudipta Sen had alleged that over Rs1 crore was paid to the lawyer as her legal fee by his company. Sen had hired her as lawyer at the behest of Manoranjana, estranged wife of former Congress MP Matang Sinh.
Sen alleged that Manoranjana contacted Saradha Group to sell Positive Group and took him to Chennai in the chamber of Nalini.
“Madam Chidambaram requested me to help her (Manoranjana) in setting up a channel in North-East in Guwahati and support her by extending Rs42 crore to her company and Madam Chidambaram herself prepared the agreement wherein she is the sole arbitrator for if any dispute arises….”, Sen had alleged in his letter to the CBI.
“So far as I remember I have already paid Rs25 crores to Manoranjana Sinh in the name of GNN India Pvt ltd.,” Sen further claimed in his letter dated April 6, 2013. Sen had alleged that he used to pay Nalini’s airfares and stay at a star hotel in Kolkata whenever she used to visit Kolkata along with Manoranjana.
Neither P Chidambaram nor Nalini responded to text messages by The Pioneer. However, their son, Karti, later tweeted her mother’s version saying, “CBI did not question me. CBI officers wanted to know whether Mrs Manoranjana Sinh had consulted me professionally. I told then yes I was consulted.”
Meanwhile, CBI on Sunday arrested two stockbrokers Deepak Pareekh and Dharmendra Bothra for allegedly misappropriating funds of Odisha-based Artha Tatwa (AT) group embroiled in the chit fund scam.
Pareekh, one of the directors of Artha Tatwa Shares Stock Pvt ltd, used to invest the Group’s money in the stock market and is alleged to have made investment on behalf of several influential persons from the State. Bothra was arrested for his alleged links with Artha Tatwa Group financial fraud.