The Enforcement Directorate claims to have traced three direct transactions totalling $1.97 lakh from the Malaysia-based Maxis Group to a company linked to former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram’s son Karti between 2007 and 2011.
Mr. Karti has, on several occasions, denied any wrongdoing.
According to the ED, Mr. Karti’s firm, Chess Management Services, received $1,04,075 from Maxis in 2007-09. It once again received $65,663 and $32,710 between 2009 and 2011.
The Directorate had asked Mr. Karti to either appear in person or send his legal representative to explain the transactions and submit the relevant documents. However, Mr. Karti sought some time saying he was travelling abroad. ED has now decided to give him 10 more days.
The ED and the Central Bureau of Investigation are already investigating the Aircel-Maxis deal.
The two agencies have told the court that they were also probing the legality of an FIPB approval by Mr. Chidambaram for foreign direct investments of over Rs.3,000 crore by Maxis in Aircel in March 2006.
The threshold for FIPB clearance by the Finance Minister was then Rs.600 crore. Investments above this could be cleared only by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) headed by the Prime Minister.
Mr. Chidambaram said the FIPB had sought the approval of the Finance Minister in accordance with the rules. He had, in a statement to the media, said the request was submitted through the additional secretary and secretary, DEA. “Approval was granted by me, as Finance Minister, in the normal course,” he said.
In December 2014, the CBI had examined Mr. Chidambaram in connection with the case.
The Enforcement Directorate recently shared several case findings with the CBI.
According to sources, one set of documents include details of a company that received foreign investments with a face-value less than Rs.600 crore, but the actual funds was way above the threshold. That case had been referred to the CCEA for approval.
In December last year, the ED had conducted searches on the Chennai premises of Chess Global Advisory Services in the presence of Mr. Karti. Searches were also conducted on two other companies -- Advantage Strategic Consulting Pvt. Ltd and Vasan Eye Care -- of his associates.
An earlier version of this article named Karti Chidambaram's firm as Chess Global Advisory Services. The company's name is Chess Management Services. The error is regretted.
