Rahul Gandhi seeks more time from ED
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday summoned Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her MP son Rahul Gandhi for questioning in a money laundering case linked to the National Herald newspaper acquisition case. Sonia Gandhi was asked to appear at ED headquarters on June 8 and Rahul was to appear tomorrow June 2. Accusing ED, Congress leaders said that Rahul may seek some more time and Sonia will appear on June 8.
After Court issued notice to Sonia, Rahul and other accused in the National Herald case, BJP leader Subramanian Swamy approached CBI, Income Tax, and ED for initiating a probe. The Income Tax department has fined Rs.414 crore on Sonia and Rahul’s dubiously floated company Young Indian for tax evasion. ED has already attached the National Herald buildings in Mumbai and Panchkula.[1]
The agency, officials said, wants to record the statements of Sonia and Rahul Gandhi under criminal sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The National Herald is published by Associated Journals Limited (AJL) and is now owned by Young Indian Pvt Limited. The agency recently questioned senior Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Pawan Bansal as part of the investigation.
ED registered a fresh case under the criminal provisions of the PMLA after a trial court here took cognizance of an Income Tax Department probe against Young Indian Pvt Ltd on the basis of a private criminal complaint filed by BJP MP Subramanian Swamy in 2013.
In 2010, Sonia and Rahul floated a company named Young Indian and declared taking over the Rs.90 crores dues of National Herald newspaper publishing company Associated Journals Limited (AJL) at a value of Rs.50 lakh (Don’t ask what kind of transaction is this? Rs.90 crore dues adjusted for Rs.50 lakh!!!!). After this Young Indian was allotted 99.9% shares of AJL, which is having more than Rs.2000 crore worth of land building assets in many cities in India.
The other accused in this case filed by Swamy is Suman Dubey and technocrat Sam Pitroda. They have earlier said that they did nothing wrong. The other two accused Motilal Vora and Oscar Fernandez recently passed.
PGurus Managing Editor Sree Iyer has recently published a detailed book on the National Herald scam. The book is available on Amazon[2].
Reference:
[1] National Herald case: Read 105-page Income Tax Assessment Order against Young Indian exposing Rs.414 crores gain – Jan 22, 2018, PGurus.cm
[2] National Herald frauds: Arrogant stealing of prime real estate – another instance of hubris of the Gandhi family Hardcover – Feb 09, 2021, Amazon.in
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