ED custody of NRI bizman linked to Robert Vadra extended

A special court in Delhi on Tuesday extended the Enforcement Directorate (ED) custody of CC Thampi, NRI businessman and a close aide of Robert Vadra, for three-day in connection with a money laundering case.

Thampi was arrested last weekend in New Delhi. The agency had yesterday said that the arrest of Thampi comes in the wake of the investigation involving Vadra, who is being probed in a money laundering case involving foreign assets in the UK.

Thampi, an NRI, and his three companies - Holiday City Centre, Holiday Properties and Holiday Bekal Resorts - were on ED radar "under FEMA for an aggregate amount of Rs 288 crores".

An ED stated that Thampi had acquired agricultural land in the name of his company Holiday City Centre Pvt. Ltd in contravention of FEMA 1999.

Following a complaint, an investigation was initiated, which revealed that Thampi had advanced unsecured loans to his three companies which were later converted into equity in his name and in the name of his family members.

"The agricultural land was purchased by Thampi through these companies in contravention of the relevant provisions of FEMA," the release said.

ED had issued a show-cause notice to Thampi for alleged FEMA to the tune of Rs 1000 crore in November last year.

ED had also booked Thampi under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in connection with alleged wrongful approval for an engineering college in Thrissur by All India Council for Technical Education in 2009. Thampi has businesses extending across India and UAE.