Problems for Chidambaram family seem to be worsening day by day. In a recent development, the Income Tax department filed four charge-sheets against the family members of former Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram. The charge-sheet has been filed under the Black Money Act for not disclosing their foreign assets against P Chidambaram’s wife Nalini Chidambaram, son Karti and daughter-in-law Srinidhi. According to the reports, The officials of Income Tax department has said that they have filed the charge-sheet under Section 50 of the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act, 2015, before a special court in Chennai. The punishment under this new act implies a fine of upto 120 percent and 10 years imprisonment.
Modi government has brought this law in 2015 as part of its campaign against Black Money and to punish those Indians who have hoarded their illegal ill gotten gains in foreign countries. On 3rd May 2018, Madras HC allowed the Black Money Act probe against Chidambaram family.
The trio, Nalini Chidambaram, Karti and Srinidhi have been charged for not disclosing, either partly or fully, immovable assets like the one at Cambridge in the UK worth Rs 5.37 crore, property worth Rs 80 lakh in the same country and assets worth Rs 3.28 crore in the US, according to the charge-sheet. The charge-sheet has been filed only after the investigation of the case reached to its “logical conclusion”, said the officials. All the three accused have been asked to appear before the court on June 11.
Nalini Chidambaram was summoned by the ED this year in connection with the money laundering probe into the notorious Saradha chit fund scam. In the first summons issued to Nalini by ED on 7th September 2016, they had asked Nalini Chidambaram to appear as a witness in the Saradha scam at their Kolkata office. Not only that, she was also summoned by the Company Law Board over an alleged television channel purchase deal in the same issue.
In 2017, the CBI had filed an FIR against Karti Chidambaram, his company Chess Management Services, the Mukerjea couple, INX Media, Advantage Strategic Consulting Services and its director Padma Vishwanathan. And later on, he was arrested by CBI at the Chennai airport. Currently, Karti Chidambaram is on out bail. Karti is also facing the probe in the Aircel-Maxis deal.
As per the estimates of the Income Tax Department, Chidambaram family’s illegal assets in 14 countries and 21 foreign bank accounts are expected to be worth three billion dollars.
According to the documents shared by Pgurus news website, 21 foreign bank accounts by Karti Chidambaram and his companies in Metro Bank in UK, 4 accounts in OCBC in Singapore in the name of Advantage Strategic Consulting Ltd, the controversial company caught in kickbacks in Aircel-Maxis scam, two banks in Spain namely Sabadell Atlantico, La Caxia Bank, HSBC UK, Barclays Bank in Monaco, Marseille BNP Paribas in France, UBS in Switzerland etc. Chidambaram, Ex-Home Minister and Finance Minister along with his family, seems to be in massive trouble now. Their comeuppance is very well neigh.
