ED chargesheets Vadra in case linked to Sanjay Bhandari

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed a supplementary prosecution complaint against businessman Robert Vadra in a money-laundering case linked to UK-based defence and arms consultant Sanjay Bhandari, reviving a long-running probe into alleged foreign assets and illicit financial links.

The chargesheet has been placed before Delhi’s Rouse Avenue Court. The next hearing in the matter is slated for December 6. This is the second money-laundering chargesheet filed against Vadra.

In July, the agency had filed a separate prosecution complaint against him in a case related to alleged irregularities in a land deal in Haryana’s Shikohpur.

According to officials, Vadra’s statement under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) was recorded in July this year. He has been questioned multiple times in the Bhandari-linked case in the past. The ED has accused him of being connected to overseas properties and financial transactions associated with Bhandari, who faces charges of holding undisclosed assets abroad.

The ED’s investigation stems from a series of income tax raids on Bhandari in 2016, which allegedly uncovered emails and documents pointing to his links with Vadra and his associates. These materials reportedly referred to the renovation of a London property believed to be owned by Bhandari which, investigators claim, was refurbished according to Vadra’s instructions and through intermediaries connected to him.

Bhandari (63) fled to London in 2016 soon after the I-T raids and was declared a fugitive economic offender by a Delhi court in July. His extradition request from India was turned down by a UK court. The ED had filed a criminal case against him and others under the PMLA in February 2017, taking cognisance of an income tax chargesheet filed under the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act, 2015.

The ED has filed two chargesheets against Bhandari and has also probed land transactions in Haryana involving Vadra, Bhandari and individuals linked to both men. Investigators allege these deals formed part of a broader network through which funds were routed and assets acquired.

The agency had earlier attached multiple properties in India said to be linked to Vadra or entities associated with him, claiming they represent proceeds of crime generated through Bhandari’s offshore dealings.

Vadra (56) has consistently rejected the charges, calling the investigation politically motivated.