New Delhi: As former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram faces a tough time in CBI custody over his alleged involvement in INX Media case, more troubles is brewing for him, with Enforcement Directorate trying to make a watertight case against the Congress leader in the Rs 70,000-crore Air India deal case, sources said on Monday.
The Air India deal pertains to the alleged wrongdoing in the purchase of 111 aircraft for Air India -- 43 aircraft from Airbus and 68 from Boeing -- during the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government in 2007.
Sources said the ED wants to question Chidambaram in the deal as he cleared the purchase of aircraft while heading an empowered group of ministers that finalized the deal. It is alleged that Chidambaram had given the nod to purchase more aircraft from Airbus and Boeing than the initial requirement pegged at 43 and 24 aircraft, said a source with direct knowledge of the deal.
The ED is in the process of collecting more evidence about the money trail leading up to the shell companies having links to Chidambaram during the process of the deal, the source said.
The ED had summoned Chidambaram for questioning in the Air India case earlier but could not question him as he was under the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) custody after his arrest on August 21 night in alleged money laundering involving INX Media case.
The ED has learnt about 17 shell companies and over 10 overseas properties owned by Chidambaram and his son Karti during its probe in the INX Media case. The agency is trying to ascertain how the money was routed to these firms obtained from the Air India deal.
The source said there are several persons on the financial probe agency radar who acted as the ''benami'' directors of these shell companies. The source indicated that Chidambaram and his son had changed the share holding pattern of the shell companies to make tracking of the money trail more complex.
26/08/19 Outlook
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The Air India deal pertains to the alleged wrongdoing in the purchase of 111 aircraft for Air India -- 43 aircraft from Airbus and 68 from Boeing -- during the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government in 2007.
Sources said the ED wants to question Chidambaram in the deal as he cleared the purchase of aircraft while heading an empowered group of ministers that finalized the deal. It is alleged that Chidambaram had given the nod to purchase more aircraft from Airbus and Boeing than the initial requirement pegged at 43 and 24 aircraft, said a source with direct knowledge of the deal.
The ED is in the process of collecting more evidence about the money trail leading up to the shell companies having links to Chidambaram during the process of the deal, the source said.
The ED had summoned Chidambaram for questioning in the Air India case earlier but could not question him as he was under the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) custody after his arrest on August 21 night in alleged money laundering involving INX Media case.
The ED has learnt about 17 shell companies and over 10 overseas properties owned by Chidambaram and his son Karti during its probe in the INX Media case. The agency is trying to ascertain how the money was routed to these firms obtained from the Air India deal.
The source said there are several persons on the financial probe agency radar who acted as the ''benami'' directors of these shell companies. The source indicated that Chidambaram and his son had changed the share holding pattern of the shell companies to make tracking of the money trail more complex.
26/08/19 Outlook
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