ED to question Chidu's lawyer wife once again
The Enforcement Directorate on Wednesday re-summoned former Congress finance minister P Chidambaram's wife Nalini Chidambaram to appear before its Kolkata office for questioning in September first week in connection with a money laundering probe into the multi-crore Saradha chit fund scam.
She has been earlier also questioned by both the ED and the CBI regarding her money dealings with the chit fund company, but the ED decided to summon her again in the light of "certain new evidence" to record her statement under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
Nalini, who is a senior advocate alike her husband and based in Chennai, had drafted a contract for Saradha case accused Manoranjana, estranged wife of Congress leader and former union minister Matang Sinh, who is in the Kolkata jail in the case for the last one year.
The ED sources said the agency has gathered "certain new evidence" against Nalini on the basis of a letter written by Saradha chairman Sudipta Sen, who is also in the jail, to the CBI in April 2013 on Rs 1.26 crore paid to her at the instance of Manoranjana.
In his letter to the CBI, Sen had pointed out how Nalini travelled to Kolkata and he paid for her stay in a five-star hotel. Sen has alleged that it were Nalini who pressurised him to invest Saradha's Rs 42 lakh in Manoranjana's media company..