ED files charge sheet against Robert Vadra in Gurugram land deal case
The chargesheet also includes the names of several other individuals and firm names.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed a charge sheet against Congress leader Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law, businessman Robert Vadra, in connection with its money laundering probe in a 3.53-acre land deal in Gurugram’s Shikohpur in 2008, people familiar with the matter said on Thursday. He has been charged under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, they added.
This is ED's first charge sheet against Vadra, who was questioned for three days in this case in April.
Vadra’s two firms allegedly had only ₹1 lakh each in their bank accounts when they purchased the land worth ₹7.5 crore in Shikohpur.
The people cited above referred to the probe in the case and said that it showed Vadra’s firm applied for developing the land for commercial activity, and the Haryana government approved a licence within four days.
Also Read: ED questions Robert Vadra in money laundering probe
An officer cited the alleged irregularities and said Vadra's Sky Light Hospitality Private Ltd (SLHPL) purchased the land without making any payment. He referred to the probe and said SLHPL did not issue the cheque for the purchase. The officer said another Vadra company, Sky Light Realty Pvt Ltd (SLRPL), issued the cheque. "...this cheque was never presented to the bank for encashment," he said.
A second officer said both SLHPL and SLRPL had a balance of only ₹1 lakh each in their bank accounts at the time of execution of this sale deed. "So, both these entities of Vadra did not have sufficient balance to make the payment to the seller for the 3.53-acre land worth ₹7.50 crore."
The second officer said Omkareshwar Properties Pvt Ltd (OPPL) provided the funds for stamp duty ( ₹45 lakh) and other charges.
A third officer said that SLHPL paid ₹15.38 crore in two tranches to OPPL, more than the amount mentioned in the sale deed ( ₹7.50 crore), after about six months. This means an “undervaluation of property was done, which led to suppression of stamp duty and revenue loss to the government”, he said.
The ED found OPPL applied for a commercial licence for this land, but the Haryana government’s town and country planning department did not issue it. On March 17, 2008, SLHPL informed the department about the land purchase and applied for a licence to develop a commercial colony.
“Within four days, on March 21, 2008, the chief minister of Haryana [Bhupinder Hooda] gave the approval...a letter of intent was issued by the department on March 28 for developing a commercial colony on 2.701 acres out of the 3.53 acres. The Haryana government did not even examine whether SLHPL had the financial capacity to develop commercial space. It appears that this licence was approved considering the status of Vadra,” said the third ED officer.
HT has reached out to Vadra, who is also facing the ED probe in a money laundering case against arms middleman Sanjay Bhandari and a land deal in Rajasthan’s Bikaner, for a comment.
