ED attaches Congress MP Karti Chidambaram’s properties worth Rs 11.04 crore in INX Media case
The case pertains to alleged irregularities in the clearance of foreign investment to the private company in 2007.
The Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday said that it has attached four properties worth Rs 11.04 crore belonging to Congress MP Karti Chidambaram in the INX Media money-laundering case.
Of the attached properties, one is an immovable asset located in the Coorg district of Karnataka, the agency said.
ED has attached 4 properties (three movable and one immovable property located at Coorg District, Karnataka) valued at Rs. 11.04 Crore belonging to Karti P Chidambaram and others in the case of INX Media Pvt Ltd and others under the provisions of PMLA, 2002.
— ED (@dir_ed) April 18, 2023
The case pertains to alleged irregularities in the clearance of the Foreign Investment Promotion Board’s Foreign Direct Investment – the government’s approval for foreign investment – to INX Media in 2007 when P Chidambaram, the father of Karti Chidambaram, was the Union finance minister. A First Information Report was filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation on May 15, 2016.
The complaint alleged that Karti Chidambaram used his father’s influence to interfere in the Foreign Investment Promotion Board’s process to clear INX Media’s application. He allegedly received Rs 10 lakh in kickbacks from INX Media for his interference. The CBI has also accused INX Media of bribing Karti Chidambaram to scuttle a tax investigation.
In May 2017, taking cognisance of the CBI’s FIR, the Enforcement Directorate filed a money laundering case against Karti Chidambaram, INX Media and its directors.
In August 2019, P Chidambaram was arrested by the CBI. He was granted bail by the Supreme Court in October that year. In June 2020, the Supreme Court dismissed the CBI’s review petition against Chidambaram’s bail.