ED attaches assets of Karti Chidambaram, firm linked to him

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) attached assets worth Rs 1.16 crore of Karti Chidambaram, son of former Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram, on Monday in connection with alleged money laundering in the Aircel-Maxis case.

The ED claimed that Karti was trying to sell most of his assets and close certain bank accounts. Congress leader P Chidambaram lashed out at the financial investigating agency, saying the allegations are “a crazy mixture of falsehoods and conjectures” intended to “intimidate” him and to “silence” his voice.

Karti is being probed for receiving alleged kickbacks in getting Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) clearance to Malaysia-based Maxis to invest in Indian telecom company Aircel when his father was the Union Finance Minister. The deal is being probed by both ED and CBI, and the case is a part of the overall probe in the 2G scam case.

The agency attached movable assets to the tune of Rs 90 lakh held by Karti in the form of fixed deposits (FDs) and balance in saving bank accounts.

Another Rs 26 lakh in FDs and bank balances of a company Advantage Strategic Consulting Pvt Ltd liked with him were attached by the ED.

The ED said it found that although FDI was of $800 …read more