The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday attached movable and immovable assets worth Rs 1.16 crore of former Finance Minister P Chidambaram’s son Karti in the Aircel-Maxis scam. According to the statement issued by the ED, Karti’s two companies, Advantage Strategic Consulting Private limited and Chess Management Services, accepted Rs 26 lakh and 2 lakh dollars respectively from Malaysian company Maxis after P Chidambaram illegally approved the FIPB clearance for takeover of Aircel in 2006.
The agency issued a provisional attachment order, signed by Joint Director and Investigating Officer of the 2G spectrum allocation cases Rajeshwar Singh, under the Prevention of Money laundering Act (PMlA) for attaching the assets.
“The Enforcement Directorate has attached movable assets held by Advantage Strategic Consulting Private limited in the form of fixed deposits to the tune of Rs 26 lakh and movable assets held by Karti in the form of fixed deposits and balance in saving bank accounts to the tune of Rs 90 lakh approximately,” said ED in a detailed statement.
The ED said Karti controlled the Advantage Strategic, whereas Chess Management was controlled by Karti and A Palaniappan, nephew of Chidambaram.
The “proceeds of crime” from illegal FIPB approval came to these companies, added ED.
In his reaction, former Finance Minister Chidambaram called the ED action “a crazy mixture of falsehoods and conjectures”.
“The Press note is intended to intimidate me and to silence my voice. I will not be intimidated,” he said.
“This is a fresh probe against Karti in connection with the Aircel-Maxis case,” said ED officials rejecting Chidambaram’s allegations. The ED’s action following CBI’s case pertains to the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) approval granted in 2006 by P Chidambaram.
The agency said it is investigating “the circumstances of said FIPB approval granted by the then finance minister” Chidambaram. The ED also said that Karti has “disposed” of a property in Gurgaon, which he had allegedly rented out to a multi-national company “to whom Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) approval had been granted in 2013”.
It charged that Karti had “also closed certain bank accounts and attempted to close other bank accounts in order to frustrate the process of attachment” under the PMlA.
The agency said FIPB approval in the Aircel-Maxis FDI case was granted in March, 2006 by the then FM even though he was competent to accord approval on project proposals only up to Rs 600 crore and beyond that it required the approval of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA).