NEW DELHI: A Delhi court on Saturday issued a notice to Businessman Robert Vadra, husband of Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi, and other accused individuals regarding the money laundering complaint, scheduling a hearing for August 28. The notice aims to hear from the proposed accused during the pre-cognisance phase, ANI reported.The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed a recent money laundering charge sheet, and the court has instructed the ED to provide copies to all proposed accused individuals.The charge sheet in this case names three individuals and eight companies as accused parties.
Gurgaon land case
Last week, the ED filed a chargesheet against Robert Vadra in a Rouse Avenue court here accusing him of laundering “proceeds of crime” in a Gurgaon land deal worth over Rs 58 crore.Besides Vadra, ED has accused 11 others in its chargesheet against the businessman, husband of MP Priyanka Gandhi. The other accused include Onkareshwar Properties and promoters/directors Satyanand Yajee & K S Virk, sources said.This is the second chargesheet filed against the Gandhi family in less than three months. The ED had filed a chargesheet against Sonia and Rahul Gandhi on April 17 in the National Herald money laundering case.
Vadra’s name in several money laundering cases
Vadra faces several money laundering investigations concerning land transactions made during previous Congress governments in Haryana and Rajasthan. He allegedly received preferential treatment from the Haryana government, led by former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, who permitted land-use conversion from agricultural to commercial/residential for Vadra’s properties, resulting in substantial profits.Additionally, Vadra is under investigation for a money laundering case linked to absconding arms dealer Sanjay Bhandari. The allegations suggest that Vadra acquired properties in London and Dubai through Bhandari using proceeds from various defence contracts.In the current case where authorities have filed a chargesheet, Vadra allegedly purchased 3.5 acres in Shikohpur village, Gurgaon’s Sector 83, through his company Skylight Hospitality Pvt Ltd from Onkareshwar Properties Pvt Ltd on February 12, 2008, for Rs 7.5 crore. The Congress government in Haryana promptly granted a commercial licence for 2.7 acres of this property. The land was subsequently sold to DLF for Rs 58 crore after four months, generating a Rs 50 crore profit.The ED’s investigation stems from a Gurgaon police FIR filed in 2018, which alleged fraudulent activities in the land deal. On Wednesday, the ED seized 43 properties valued at over Rs 37 crore, connected to Vadra and his organisations, including Skylight Hospitality Pvt Ltd.