New Delhi, Aug 9 As part of a tainted land deal in Gurugram, Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s husband and businessman Robert Vadra received Rs 58 crore as proceeds of crime, the Enforcement Directorate has told a Special Court in a money laundering case.
While Rs 53 crore were routed through Sky Ligh Hospitality, another Rs 5 crore were routed through Blue Breeze Trading, said the ED in its chargesheet against Vadra and others.
The Special PMLA court in Delhi has fixed August 28 to take cognisance of the ED complaint and issued a notice to Vadra.
The federal agency, in its prosecution complaint, said, “These funds, derived from the scheduled offence, were allegedly utilised by Vadra to acquire immovable properties, make investments, advance funds/loans, and settle liabilities of his various group companies.”
The ED told the court that its investigation led to the provisional attachment of 43 immovable properties, totalling Rs 38.69 crore, identified as direct or value equivalent to Proceeds of Crime.
While seeking punishment for the accused under Section 4 of PMLA with maximum jail term of seven years and confiscation of the properties, the ED said properties identified as direct proceeds of crime include Land in Bikaner, Rajasthan; Units in Good Earth City Centre, Gurugram; Units in Bestech Business Tower, Mohali and Residential units in Jay Ambe Township, Ahmedabad.
Under the category of Value Equivalent Proceeds of Crime, the ED mentioned: Various agricultural lands in Amipur, Faridabad; Plots in Mayfield Garden, Gurugram; Commercial units in Centrum Plaza, Gurugram; Commercial units in Bestech Business Tower, Gurugram; Commercial units in India Expo Mart, Noida; An apartment in The Aralias, Gurugram; Land in Bikaner, Rajasthan and Commercial space in Noida.
The ED said, “These properties are owned by Robert Vadra, M/s Artex (Proprietor Robert Vadra), M/s Sky Light Reality Pvt. Ltd., or M/s Real Earth Estates LLP. The total value of all attached properties, including both Direct and Value Equivalent Proceeds of Crime, is Rs 38.69 crore.”
In its complaint, the federal agency invoked various sections of the PMLA, 2002, including Section 23 (Presumption in inter-connected transactions), Section 24 (Burden of proof), Section 44 (Offences triable by Special Courts), and Section 45 (Offences to be cognizable and nonbailable) in addition to Section3 (Offence of Money Laundering).
The ED alleged that Vadra's company Skylight Hospitality Private Limited, despite having less capital, bought 3.5 acres of land in Shikohpur, Gurugram, from Omkareshwar Properties Private Limited for Rs 7.50 crore.
In this case, wrong information was also given in the sale deed that the payment was made through a cheque. But the ED alleged that the cheque was never encashed.
The price of the land was shown as less in the sale deed because its total value was Rs 15 crore and not Rs 7.50 crore, the ED said.
According to the ED, due to a wrong and lower price mentioned in the sale deed, stamp duty worth Rs 45 lakh was evaded, which is an offence under Section 423 of the IPC.
The ED alleged that this transaction was a bribery transaction in which Omkareshwar Properties transferred the land to Vadra’s Skylight Hospitality without any actual payment.
In return, Vadra influenced the then Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda to help Omkareshwar Properties obtain a licence for a housing scheme in the same (Shikohpur) village, said the ED.
--IANS
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