ED’s Dec 2015 search gave leads for CBI probe into INX deal
The CBI raid on former finance minister P Chidambaram’s son Karti was triggered by information provided by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), a senior official privy to the development told HT on Tuesday.
Sleuths of the CBI searched Karti Chidambaram’s homes and offices across New Delhi, Gurugram, Mumbai and Chennai, which officials said was part of an investigation into suspected corruption during the senior Chidambaram’s tenure as the Union finance minister.
The CBI also named Karti as an accused in a case related to sale of stakes in INX Media, floated by former media baron Peter Mukerjea and his wife Indrani.
At 1pm on February 2, hours after former telecom minister Dayanidhi Maran and his brother Kalanithi Maran’s acquittal in the Aircel-Maxis cases filed by the CBI, the federal investigating agency’s headquarters had a rare visitor, ED director Karnal Singh. Singh was visiting his former colleague at Delhi police and new CBI director Alok Verma, who had taken charge the previous day, the official privy to the meeting said.
With the court’s dismissal of the CBI charge sheet against the Marans, the ED probe into the Aircel-Maxis case and P Chidambaram’s alleged role in the scandal was under threat. By then, the ED had confiscated Maran’s properties worth ₹700 crore.
It was during this meeting the ED informed the CBI about the evidence they had collected in December 2015 during its raid of Advantage Strategic, a company allegedly owned by Karti.
Subsequently, Singh wrote five letters to Verma, detailing how eight companies seeking clearance from Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) headed by then finance minister Chidambaram paid “consultancy fee” to Advantage Strategic.
“Advantage Strategic Consulting Pvt Ltd (ASCPL) has been earning income by way of consultancy income from various business entities involved in various businesses. The income earned by way of consultancy shows certain nexus with political decisions taken for various approvals. One such consultancy received by M/s ASCPL is the consultancy received from INX media,” Singh wrote to Verma.
Based on the information, the CBI decided a fortnight ago to launch a wider probe into alleged irregularities in FIPB clearances during Chidambaram’s tenure.