The Income Tax Department officers on Monday started recording the statement of Robert Vadra in connection with a benami properties case. An IT department source related to probe said, “An I-T team is at Vadra’s residence to record his statement in the Benami properties matter.”
Besides the IT department, Vadra is also being investigated by the Enforcement Department under the provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) pertaining to allegations of money laundering in the purchase of a London-based property at 12, Bryanston Square, worth 1.9 million pounds. It is alleged that the said property is allegedly owned by him. He is currently out on an anticipatory bail.
Vadra, Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law, is married to Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi. He has been unable to join the probe due to the Covid pandemic. He maintains that the cases against him are are motivated by political rivalry.
Vadra is also being investigated by the Income Tax department in a case involving properties worth around 12 million pounds in London that allegedly belong to him. He has been extensively questioned in the case, filed in 2018, by the Enforcement Directorate.
In September 2015, the agency had also registered a money laundering case alleging that Vadra’s firm Skylight Hospitality had acquired land meant for rehabilitation of poor villagers in in Rajasthan’s Bikaner. It was alleged that Vadra bought 69.55 hectares of land at a cheaper rate and sold to Allegenery Finlease for ₹ 5.15 crore through illegal transactions.
A police case was lodged against him and former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda was also filed in 2018 for alleged irregularities in land deals in Gurgaon. It has been alleged that Skylight Hospitality sold 3.5 acres of land in 2008 in Shikohpur village to DLF at a rate much higher than the prevailing rate.
(With inputs from agencies)
Read all the Latest News, Breaking News and Coronavirus News here
Comments
0 comment