Assets Worth 1.16 Crores Linked To Karti Chidambaram Are Seized

New Delhi: Karti Chidambaram, accused last week in the Supreme Court of furtively closing down foreign bank account, was penalized today with assets worth 90 lakhs being taken over or attached by the Enforcement Directorate, which investigates financial crimes.

Karti Chidambaram is the son of former Finance Minister P Chidambaram and has denied allegations of corruption and money-laundering. The case against him, filed by the CBI, charges him with money-laundering kickbacks that were allegedly paid when Malaysian firm Maxis Communications bought Indian telecom Aircel in 2006. The purchase was controversial and Aircel owner C Sivasankaran claimed that he had been coerced to sell the telecom to Maxis owner T Ananda Krishnan.

Karti Chidambaram is also being investigated for using his father's office and influence to illicitly clear foreign investment worth about 300 crores in INX Media, the television company owned by Peter and Indrani Mukerjea, who are in jail on charges of murdering Sheena Bora, who was Indrani Mukerjea's daughter.

P Chidambaram recently said that Karti Chidambaram is being targeted for political reasons and investigators should interrogate him rather than harassing his son.  

Last week, the CBI told the Supreme Court that a lookout notice -which alerts airports to stop a passenger from traveling abroad- is required against Karti Chidambaram because he has been using foreign trips to delete bank accounts in which he stashed kickbacks.

Along with fixed deposits and savings in the name of Karti Chidambaram which amount to about 90 lakhs, the Enforcement Directorate today attached 26 lakhs from bank accounts of Advantage Strategic Consulting Private Limited (ASCPL), a company to which he is allegedly linked.

The Enforcement Directorate said it is "controlled" by him through a proxy owner.