The Enforcement Directorate has submitted an additional prosecution complaint in a black money case, naming Robert Vadra, the husband of Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law, as an accused.
This supplementary complaint, similar in nature to a chargesheet, was filed on November 15 before a special court at Rouse Avenue and is scheduled to be taken up on December 6.
Officials indicated that the case is tied to UK-based arms consultant Sanjay Bhandari, who left for London after an Income Tax department search in 2016. The following year, the ED booked him under the 2015 anti-black money law and began examining his alleged connections with Vadra, Indian Express reported.
The agency is said to have filed the latest complaint around three months after naming Vadra in another prosecution related to a money-laundering probe involving a 2008 land transaction for a 3.53-acre plot in Shikohpur village in Gurgaon’s Sector 83.
According to those familiar with the investigation, the ED believes Vadra had assisted Bhandari and had made use of a property at 12, Bryanston Square in London, which the agency describes as proceeds of crime. Vadra, however, is understood to have denied having any ownership, direct or indirect, of any London property.
In July, a Delhi court reportedly declared Bhandari a fugitive economic offender, allowing the ED to move towards confiscating his assets. The agency has stated that his undisclosed foreign income or assets were valued at about Rs 655 crore, and the total tax evaded by him, including penalty and interest, was Rs 196 crore.
Sources indicated that ED’s findings suggest the London property bought by Sanjay Bhandari had been used by Robert Vadra for his personal purposes.
Investigators were also reported to have concluded that Vadra had furnished the residence at 12, Bryanston Square, a property Bhandari had purchased for about GBP 1.9 million.