New Delhi: Karti took Rs 50L bribe in Chinese visa case says Enforcement Directorate

New Delhi : The Enforcement Directorate on Thursday alleged that Congress MP Karti Chidambaram took a Rs 50 lakh bribe through a close aide for getting sanction of the Union home ministry for reuse of visas for Chinese personnel by a company that was establishing a power plant in Punjab. It also claimed that this alleged bribe was pumped into a company, of which Karti had control, through a “fictitious” cash transaction. The 52-year-old MP represents the Sivaganga Lok Sabha seat in Tamil Nadu and the agency has recorded his statement in the case multiple times.

He told PTI that his lawyers will respond to these charges in the court during trial. The federal agency made these allegations in a charge sheet filed against Karti, a company alleged to be promoted by him-- Advantage Strategic Consulting Private Limited, his alleged close aide and accountant S Bhaskararaman, the company where Chinese workers were deployed --Talwandi Sabo Power Limited -- and others.

The special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Delhi took cognisance of the prosecution complaint on March 19. It has summoned all the accused listed in the charge sheet, including Karti, to appear before it on April 15. The other accused include Padam Dugar, Vikas Makharia, Mansoor Siddiqi and Dugar Housing Ltd.

Probe found that “Karti P Chidambaram took illegal gratification of Rs 50 lakh through his close aide S Bhaskararaman for getting the approval for reuse of Chinese visas by the company named Talwandi Sabo Power Limited, which was establishing a power project at Mansa in Punjab.” “Officials of the company approached Karti P Chidambaram for getting the approval for reuse of visas from the Ministry of Home Affairs wherein his father was Home Minister (senior Congress leader P Chidambaram),” the ED alleged in a statement.

The purported 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, it claimed. “The entry operator in turn paid Rs 50 lakh cash to S Bhaskararaman, a close associate of Karti Chidambaram and the latter subsequently invested this cash of Rs 50 lakh in Advantage Strategic Consulting Private Limited, a company controlled by Karti P Chidambaram,” the agency alleged. The ED claimed that the value of Rs 50 lakh so invested increased to Rs 1.59 crore over a period of time which is the “proceeds of crime” as per provisions of the PMLA.