AAP Accuses Amarinder Singh's Family Of Siphoning Off Rs 460 Crore

Chandigarh: The Aam Admi Party has alleged that during the Congress regime in Punjab between 2002 and 2007, public money to the tune of Rs 460 crore had been siphoned off.

The money, AAP alleged, had ended up in the Swiss bank accounts of the relatives of Captain Amrinder Singh, who was the Chief Minister at the time.

AAP spokesperson Ashish Khetan said a Ludhiana court has issued summons to Mr Singh's son Raninder Singh on 18 March, following a complaint by the Income Tax Department regarding his foreign assets.

The case dated back to 2011 when the IT department had alleged that Raninder Singh made false statements twice under oath -- denying that he had foreign assets and had association with any foreign entity.

On the basis of the documents, Mr Khetan said in 2005, Raninder Singh formed the Jacaranda Trust, registered in British Virgin Islands. Four companies were formed under the Trust to channel money, allegedly from India, into their accounts. Two prime properties were purchased by the companies in London and Dubai, he said.

Mr Khetan said in July 2005, Preneet Kaur, the wife of Captain  Amarinder Singh, had opened an account in HSBC bank in Geneva, Switzerland. Raninder Singh had an account in the same bank, as did the Jacaranda Trust.

Money was routed into these accounts by the four companies.

Amarinder Singh said the charges against his family were an "act of vendetta" initiated in the run-up to the 2017 assembly elections by the BJP and the Akali Dal.

He showed letters, purportedly from the HSBC authorities dated five years ago, which said neither Ms Preneet Kaur nor Mr Raninder Singh or Jacaranda Trust India had any account in any of their branches.

The documents, he said, had been submitted to the Income Tax authorities long ago and they had initially stopped pursuing the matter.