Anti-corruption body clears probe agency’s action on National Herald assets
The Adjudicating Authority under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) on Wednesday upheld the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) provisional attachment order of assets of Rs.751.9 crore in the National Herald scam. The assets attached were the prime properties in Delhi, Mumbai, and Lucknow owned by Associated Journal Limited (AJL) and Young Indian (YI), controlled by Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. The agency had already attached another prime property in Panchkula.
The ED initiated proceedings last year, issuing an order to provisionally attach properties valued at Rs.751.9 crore as part of an investigation under the PMLA, 2002. The investigation unearthed a complex web of financial irregularities allegedly involving AJL and YI. The anti-money laundering agency took cognizance of the trial court’s order based on BJP leader Subramanian Swamy’s complaint accusing Sonia and Rahul of grabbing the assets of National Herald newspaper publishing company (AJL) floating a shell firm called Young Indian.
According to the ED’s findings, Associated Journals Ltd. (AJL) was found to be in possession of proceeds of crime amounting to Rs.661.69 crore in the form of immovable properties across several cities in the country, including Delhi, Mumbai, and Lucknow. Additionally, Young Indian (YI) was discovered to hold proceeds of crime totaling Rs.90.21 crore in the form of equity shares in AJL.
The court found merit in the allegations of Subramanian Swamy, ruling that seven accused individuals, including Young India, prima facie committed various offences including criminal breach of trust, cheating, misappropriation of property, and criminal conspiracy.
“It was revealed during the investigation that the accused orchestrated a criminal conspiracy to acquire valuable properties of AJL, originally earmarked for newspaper publishing purposes, through a special purpose vehicle, Young Indian. AJL, which had been allotted land at concessional rates for newspaper publication, ceased its publishing operations in 2008 and began utilizing the properties for commercial ventures,” said ED in the press statement in relation to the provisional attachment.
“Further, it was found that AJL owed a substantial loan of Rs.90.21 crore to the All India Congress Committee (AICC). However, AICC purportedly deemed the loan as non-recoverable and sold it to a newly established entity, Young Indian, for a nominal sum of Rs.50 lakh, despite lacking sufficient funds to even make this payment.
“Subsequently, YI demanded repayment of the loan or the issuance of equity shares in AJL. AJL, in an extraordinary general meeting, resolved to increase its share capital and issue fresh shares worth Rs 90.21 crore to YI. Consequently, the shareholding of over 1,000 shareholders was diluted to a mere 1%, effectively making AJL a subsidiary of YI and granting YI control over its assets. The ED’s investigation concluded that these actions not only cheated the shareholders of AJL but also the donors of the Congress Party, exposing a complex financial fraud scheme.” Said the probe agency.
For all the latest updates, download PGurus App.
- Supreme Court rejects plea to tally all VVPAT slips with EVM votes; says ‘no going back to paper ballot’ - April 26, 2024
- US report citing human rights violations is deeply biased: India - April 25, 2024
- Kotak Mahindra Bank shares tank 13%. Market Cap erodes by Rs.37,721 cr post-RBI action - April 25, 2024
