India’s money laundering investigators on Tuesday said they seized properties worth Rs7.52 billion ($121 million) in a probe linked to a nine-year-old complaint against opposition Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi and his mother Sonia.
The complaint, lodged by a member of parliament from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 2014, accused the Gandhis of forming a shell company and illegally gaining control of property worth US$300 million ($402 million).
The property belonged to the firm Young Indian Limited that publishes the National Herald newspaper, founded in 1937 by India’s first prime minister and Mr Rahul’s great-grandfather Jawaharlal Nehru.
The seized assets include properties spread across Indian cities including New Delhi and Mumbai as well as investments in equity shares, the Enforcement Directorate said in a statement.
The Press Trust of India reported that the seized assets include the National Herald’s office premises at ITO in Delhi, the Nehru Bhawan at Mall Avenue near Kaiserbagh in Lucknow and the Herald House in Mumbai.
A provisional order was issued under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) against the newspaper’s publisher Associated Journals and its holding company Young Indian.
The financial probe agency said that during the investigation, it was found that “Associated Journal is in possession of criminal proceeds in the form of immovable properties spread across many cities such as Delhi, Mumbai and Lucknow to the tune of Rs661.69 crore”, and that “Young Indian is in possession of criminal proceeds to the tune of Rs90.21 crore in the form of investment in equity shares of the AJL”.
The Enforcement Directorate had earlier questioned and recorded the statements of Ms Sonia, Mr Rahul Gandhi and that of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge.
The Congress party, however, termed the move “petty vendetta tactics”.
“This is a prefabricated structure of deceit, lies and falsehood, by and for the BJP, to divert, distract and digress in the middle of elections,” congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi said in a statement.
Five Indian states are voting to elect new legislatures this month. The regional polls are key, ahead of national elections due next year.
Reuters
