Chinese visa 'scam': Delhi court summons Karti Chidambaram, others following ED charge sheet

A Delhi court on Tuesday summoned Congress MP Karti Chidambaram and others in a money laundering case linked to an alleged visa scam involving Chinese nationals.

Special Judge M K Nagpal summoned the accused after taking cognisance of a charge sheet filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

The judge directed Karti Chidambaram, his former chartered accountant S Bhaskararaman and six others, including representatives of a few companies, to appear before the court on April 5.

The accused also include Padam Dugar, Vikas Makharia, Mansoor Siddiqi, Dugar Housing Ltd, Advantage Strategic Consulting Pvt Ltd and Talwandi Sabo Power Ltd.

The judge passed the order after going through the submissions made by the ED, the contents of the prosecution complaint (ED's equivalent of a charge sheet), and the oral and documentary evidence collected during investigation.

"Cognizance is hereby taken by this court for commission of the offence of money laundering... and all the accused being prosecuted through this complaint filed by ED are being directed to be summoned to face trial for commission of the said offence... Summons for appearance of all the accused before this court at 10 am on April 5, 2024 are directed to be issued and they be directed to appear before this court in person and to face trial for the above said offence," the judge said.

The ED has registered a money laundering case against Karti Chidambaram and others in the alleged scam pertaining to issuance of visa to 263 Chinese nationals in 2011 when his father P Chidambaram was the Union home minister.

The ED said the actual magnitude or volume of the processed or laundered money in the case was yet to be established and the alleged payment of Rs 50 lakh bribe, as mentioned in the CBl case, cannot be considered as the basis of the present case.

The ED registered its case under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) taking note of an FIR lodged by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the same case.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)