Nalini Chidambaram has been summoned for questioning by the Enforcement Directorate
Nalini Chidambaram, the wife of former finance minister P Chidambaram, has been summoned for questioning by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with Saradha ponzi scam.
Mrs Chidambaram, a senior lawyer, has been asked to appear at the directorate's Kolkata office in the first week of September.
Her name came up in the case after scam kingpin and Saradha Group chief Sudipto Sen mentioned her in a letter to the CBI before his arrest in April 2013.
In the letter, Mr Sen claimed he had been forced to strike a series of business deals in favour of politicians. One of these deals, he said, involved Manoranjana Sinh, who was once married to Congress politician Matang Singh. Mr Sen wrote that Mrs Chidambaram, a lawyer for Mrs Sinh, was paid over Rs. 1 crore as legal fees from Saradha funds.
The CBI, which is also investigating the Saradha scam, refers to Mrs Chidambaram in their chargesheet, not as an accused or witness but as someone who is privy to important information.
Several politicians, including those of Bengal's ruling Trinamool Congress, are being investigated in the Saradha ponzi scam, in which 17 lakh people were duped of their life's savings.