New Delhi: Enforcement Directorate Thursday alleged that Congress’s Lok Sabha MP Karti Chidambaram had taken bribes of Rs 50 lakh through his close aide S Bhaskararaman to get approvals for visas to Chinese nationals working in a power plant in Punjab, when his father P Chidambaram was home minister.
“Investigation revealed that Karti P Chidambaram took illegal gratification of Rs 50 lakh through his close aide S Bhaskararaman for getting approval for reuse of Chinese visas by Talwandi Sabo Power Ltd, which was establishing a power project at Mansa, Punjab. Officials of the firm approached Karti for getting the approval for reuse of visas from MHA wherein his father was home minister,” ED said.
ED has filed a chargesheet in the case which was taken cognizance by a PMLA court on March 19. ED has made Karti, his company Advantage Strategic Consulting Pvt Ltd, and Bhaskararaman as accused, besides Talwandi Sabo Power Ltd, in its laundering case.”Modus operandi adopted in the case was that the company paid Rs 50 lakh through cheque to an entry operator in the garb of fictitious services. The entry operator in turn paid Rs 50 lakh cash to S Bhaskararaman, a close associate of Karti. Subsequently, Bhaskararaman invested cash of Rs 50 lakh in Advantage Strategic Consulting Private Limited, a company controlled by Karti,” ED said.
The ED probe further revealed that the value of Rs 50 lakh so invested increased to Rs. 1.59 crore over a period of time which is ‘proceeds of crime’ as per provisions of PMLA, the agency said.
Earlier, both father and son had denied having any knowledge of visas issued to Chinese nationals in violation of rules. Karti and his father P Chidambaram are currently on bail facing multiple laundering cases. They were earlier booked under PMLA in two money laundering cases: INX-Media and Aircel-Maxis payoffs. The ED has filed chargesheets against them and a trial is pending in both these cases.