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Robert Vadra, the businessman husband of Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, was on Monday questioned for about five hours by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money laundering case linked to UK-based arms consultant Sanjay Bhandari and some others, official sources said. The 56-year-old Vadra arrived at the federal probe agency's office located in central Delhi after 11 am. He was accompanied by Priyanka Gandhi, MP from Kerala's Wayanad Lok Sabha seat. The session ended shortly after 5 pm, during which Vadra once went out during lunch hour. The businessman's statement was recorded under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the sources said. They said he may be called again for questioning as he allegedly "failed" to answer certain questions regarding his financial links with Bhandari and his family members. He was called by the agency twice last month for questioning in this case, but he sought deferment of his summons as he reported being unwell during the first summ
Robert Vadra, the businessman husband of Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, skipped his scheduled deposition before the Enforcement Directorate for the second time in a money laundering case linked to UK-based arms consultant Sanjay Bhandari, official sources said on Tuesday. Vadra's lawyer said his client was travelling abroad with the "prior" permission of the court to attend his daughter's graduation ceremony. He was asked to appear on Tuesday (June 17) after he failed to do so on June 10. The federal probe agency may issue him a fresh date after examining his reply. The permission to travel (on June 17) was obtained well before the service of the latest summons and an intimation has been sent to the ED also, advocate Suman Jyoti Khaitan said. "Mr Vadra has repeatedly stated that he is available to extend his fullest cooperation with the ED as he has done on all prior occasions, both upon his return from abroad and also for recording his statement through video conference during
The Enforcement Directorate has issued a fresh summons to Robert Vadra, the businessman husband of Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, for questioning in a money laundering case linked to UK-based arms consultant Sanjay Bhandari, official sources said on Monday. He has been asked to depose before the federal probe agency here on June 17 for the recording of his statement in this case that is being investigated under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the sources said. Vadra, 56, was called for questioning in the case on June 10 but he skipped, saying he had flu-like symptoms on June 9 and had undertaken a COVID test as per protocol. His lawyer had then said that Vadra had no intention of avoiding summons and was ready to appear before the ED anytime before or after his travel abroad later this month. The agency is understood to have summoned Vadra to record his statement under the PMLA and subsequently file a chargesheet in the case. The federal probe agency had questio
The Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday alleged that Robert Vadra, son-in-law of former Congress president Sonia Gandhi, "renovated and stayed" at a London property which is a "proceeds of crime" in a money laundering case against alleged middleman Sanjay Bhandari. Bhandari fled to the UK in 2016 and the British government approved his extradition to India in January this year acting on the legal request made by the ED and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The two federal agencies are probing charges of money laundering and tax evasion against the businessman for holding alleged undisclosed assets abroad. This is the first time that the federal agency has named Vadra in this case. The ED issued a statement stating that it has filed a fresh charge sheet in this case against C C or Cheruvathur Chakutty Thampi, a UAE-based NRI businessman, and UK national Sumit Chadha. Thampi was arrested in this case in January 2020 and the ED alleged he was a "close associate" of Vadra. Tha