ED examines Cong leader Kharge in National Herald Money Laundering case

Money Laundering not a new angle in the National Herald investigation – what is new is the role of Mallikarjun Kharge

April 11, 2022

Mallikarjun Kharge, a Director in AJL and Young Indian, appeared before ED today to answer questions

In another jolt to the Gandhi family, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday examined senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge here in connection with its money laundering probe related to the National Herald scam. The ED’s action came in few days after the ITAT (Income Tax Appellate Tribunal) ratified the Income Tax findings of huge tax evasion of more than Rs.415 crore by Young India, a new company floated by Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi (76% shares to dubiously acquire the National Herald newspaper publishing company Associated Journals Ltd (AJL). Kharge is a Director in AJL.

Income Tax already in their Order said that Congress party’s claim of giving Rs.90 crore loan to AJL was bogus and Young Indian acquiring the loan for just Rs.50 lakh and acquiring 99.99% shares of AJL was a total sham. With this dubious move, Young Indian acquired land building assets of AJL worth more than Rs.3,000 crores. After the Magistrate Court issued notice to Sonia, Rahul and other Directors of Young Indian, the petitioner BJP leader Subramanian Swamy filed complaints with Income Tax and Enforcement Directorate in January 2016 to probe into the tax evasion and money laundering aspects.

Kharge arrived at the ED headquarters here shortly before 11 AM. His statement has been recorded under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) as the agency wants to understand some issues in the investigation, officials said. Kharge is a Director in Young Indian and AJL and hence his questioning in the case was necessitated, officials said.

The ED has been probing AJL and the role of various Congress leaders under the anti-money laundering law since 2016 after taking cognizance of a CBI FIR in the National Herald’s Panchkula building. The ED has already attached AJL”s offices in Panchkula and Bandra in Mumbai.

The agency said that the accused in this case, which includes former Haryana chief minister and Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda and late Congress leader Motilal Vora, “used the proceeds of crime” in the form of a land plot allotted “illegally” to AJL in Panchkula and pledged it to avail loan from a Syndicate Bank branch (Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg) in Delhi for constructing a building in Mumbai’s Bandra area. This property, valued at Rs.16.38 crore, was attached by the ED in 2020.

Also, BJP MP Subramanian Swamy, in a criminal complaint filed before a trial court here, had accused Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, her MP son Rahul Gandhi, and others of conspiring to cheat and misappropriate funds by paying only Rs.50 lakh, through which Young Indian Pvt Ltd (YI) obtained the right to recover Rs 90.25 crore that Associate Journals Ltd, the owner of National Herald, owed to the Congress.

PGurus Managing Editor Sree Iyer has written a detailed book on National Herald Scam.

National Herald Frauds by Sree Iyer

This is a black and white case of creating a shell company to steal assets worth thousands of crores, by blatantly disregarding the laws of the land. In one stroke of pen, this move wiped out several shareholders’ stocks in the company Associated Journals Limited (AJL). Money laundering, tax evasion, and illegal capture of prime real estate are done by the ruling family with impunity, all done in plain sight.

Now, having been caught with their hand in the cookie jar, the Gandhi family and the Congress Party put on a drama of witch hunt and all they want to do is a delay, delay, and delay. From the first summons in 2014, which the family dragged all the way to the Supreme Court and back, to now, this book documents all the twists and turns that they tried to escape from the criminal case brought on them by Subramanian Swamy. No stone left unturned, no avenues unexplored to try and escape the long arm of the law.

A must-read for those who want to understand the details of how the Gandhi family grabbed prime real estate without spending a paisa. And then not paying a paisa of tax for the income they were getting from the property that they did not own. Having accomplished a massive steal of land and buildings, they can’t explain the source of even the paltry sum of money that they used to buy AJL. Is the end in sight? Read this book to find out[1].

Reference:

[1] National Herald frauds: Arrogant stealing of prime real estate – another instance of hubris of the Gandhi family – Amazon.in

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