A house in UK and a tennis club in Barcelona are among Karti Chidambaram's assets that have been seized
The Enforcement Directorate has seized Karti Chidambaram's assets worth Rs. 54 crore in India, the United Kingdom and Spain in connection with the INX Media case.
Karti Chidambaram, the son of senior Congress leader and former union minister P Chidambaram, has been accused of getting government clearance for foreign investment to the tune of around Rs. 300 crore for INX Media - a television company then owned by Peter and Indrani Mukerjea - in exchange for bribes. Investigators say he used the influence of his father who was Finance Minister in the UPA government at the time.
Six properties of Mr Karti Chidambaram worth Rs 54 crore were attached during the raids, the agency said. A senior official of the Enforce Directorate said: "We have attached six properties of Karti worth Rs 54 crore."
The properties attached include a cottage house worth Rs 8.67 crore in the UK's Somerset, a tennis club worth Rs 14 crore located in Gava in Spain's Barcelona province and a flat worth Rs 16 crore in New Delhi's Jor Bagh area. The other assets attached by the agency include two bungalow s in Tamil Nadu's Ooty that are worth Rs 50 lakh and Rs 3.75 crore respectively and an agricultural land valued Rs 25 lakh in Kodaikanal in Tamil Nadu, the agency officials said.
Karti Chidambaram has been accused of getting government clearance for foreign investment to the tune of around Rs. 300 crore for INX Media
He said that the "provincial attachment order" will not withstand judicial scrutiny, and he would approach the appropriate legal forum.
Fixed Deposits worth Rs. 90 lakh in a bank in Chennai, in the name of Advantage Strategic Consulting Private Limited (ASCPL), have also been attached, the Enforcement Directorate said.
The assets are in the name of Karti Chidambaram and ASCPL, the firm allegedly linked to him, the agency said. The Enforcement Directorate said the Jorbagh property was registered in the name both Karti Chidambaram and his mother Nalini Chidambaram.
The assets are in the name of Karti and ASCPL, the firm allegedly linked to him, provisional order said.
Enforcement Directorate and Central Bureau of Investigations have been probing Mr Chidambarm, in cases including alleged irregularities in the Foreign Investment Promotion Board clearance to then INX Media for FDI in 2007 and the Aircel-Maxis case in 2006.
Mr Chidambarm was arrested on February 28 by the CBI for allegedly taking bribe to facilitate the FIPB clearance to INX Media in 2007. He was later granted bail.