ED grills Karti in INX Media case

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, October 9

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) today questioned Karti Chidambaram, son of former Union Minister P Chidambaram, in connection with the INX Media money-laundering case, agency officials said.

Karti, Congress MP representing Sivaganga in Tamil Nadu, was summoned for a fresh round of grilling in the case, they said, adding that he appeared before the Investigating Officer (IO) here.

Before entering the ED office here, Karti, when asked questions by waiting mediapersons there, shot back saying he had come to say hello to the investigators on Dasehra.

Karti was questioned multiple times by the agency in the past in connection with the case and his statement recorded under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrested his father and senior Congress leader P Chidambaram in the case last month.

Sources in the ED said Karti was questioned on some fresh leads obtained by the agency from abroad. Last year, the ED had attached assets worth Rs 54 crore of Karti that were located in India, the UK and Spain in connection with the INX Media case.

Sources in the agency had earlier alleged that P Chidambaram and Karti were the “beneficial owners” of several shell firms that were incorporated in India and abroad in connection with a Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) approval given to the INX Media group during Chidambaram’s tenure as the union finance minister.