New Delhi, Dec 28: First, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi has been named by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in its charge sheet. The charge sheet mentions Priyanka Gandhi’s purchase and sale of an agricultural land measuring 40 kanal (five acres) in Haryana’s Faridabad from Delhi-based real estate agent HL Pahwa in 2006 and February 2010. The land was bought in Amipur village, Faridabad, from Pahwa, the agent who also helped Robert Vadra, Priyanka’s husband, buy three parcels of land in Amipur village totaling 40.08 acres (or 334 kanals) between 2005 and 2006; Pahwa sold the land to Robert Vadra in December 2010.The agent is the same one who sold land to CC Thampi, an NRI businessman. The main case concerns Sanjay Bhandari, a fugitive arms dealer who is being investigated by several agencies for violating the Official Secrets Act, foreign exchange and black money laws, and money-laundering. In 2016, he left India for the UK. Together with British national Sumit Chadha, Thampi is accused of helping Bhandari conceal illicit gains. Robert Vadra was identified by the ED as an alleged close aide of Thampi in its previous charge sheet pertaining to the case.It is stated in the most recent charge sheet that Pahwa was taking cash out of the books to purchase land. Additionally, it was observed that Robert Vadra had not given Pahwa the full sale consideration. In this regard, the ED investigation is still ongoing. Nonetheless, a copy of “the ledger accounts in the Pahwa books reflecting the transactions mentioned above were taken on record via letter dated November 17, 2023″ was obtained.“It is submitted that on November 1, 2007, and November 16, 2007, respectively, Robert Vadra incorporated entities in India under the names Sky Light Hospitality Pvt Ltd and Sky Light Realty Pvt Ltd. They were downloaded from the Ministry of Corporate Affairs’ website. On April 1, 2009, Sky Lite Investment FZE was established in the United Arab Emirates, and CC Thampi is the only shareholder of the company, according to the charge sheet. “While Thampi and his Indian eatities were being investigated in the case bearing no.In T-3/219/HQ/2015, a FEMA-mandated investigation, it was discovered that Thampi bought 486 actes (approximately) of land in the village of Amipur in the Faridabed district of Haryana between 2005 and 2008 via a real estate agent located in HL Pahwa, Delhi NCR. The charge sheet also states that on November 1, 2007, Robert Vadra registered a company in India under the name Blve Breeze Trading Pvt Ltd, which was subsequently changed to LLP. “Either since it was a Private Limited company or after it was changed to an LLP, the email address of the aforementioned entity has always been [email protected] ic. The aforementioned entities’ incorporation documents were downloaded from the Ministry of Corporate Affairs’ website. The charge sheet states, “It is the same email address that one Beena, an employee of CC Thampi in Dubai, used to communicate in connection with the property 12 Bryanston Square, London.In the process of looking into another PMLA case (pertaining to ECIR/OG/HIU2018) that is being looked into against Robert Vadra, his company Sky Light Hospitality Pvt Ltd, and others, it was discovered that a resident of Delhi NCR named Mahesh Nagar represented a number of Robert Vadre entities when buying and selling different plots of land in Delhi-NCR and Bikaner, Rajasthan. Robert Vadra was also mentioned by the ED on Tuesday in a statement regarding the purchase of a London property that is under investigation.The charge sheet describes the relationship between Thampi and Vadra in detail, saying, “It is discovered during the course of this case’s investigation that CC Thampi and Robert Vadra have a long and thick relationship.” Not only do they share a friendly and personal relationship, but they also have comparable business interests. When Thampi was detained in January 2020, he purportedly told the ED that he had known Vadra for more than ten years and that they had met multiple times when Vadra travelled to Delhi and the United Arab Emirates.
