Robert Vadra appears before ED in Shikohpur land deal-linked money laundering case

Robert Vadra, businessman and brother-in-law of Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, on Tuesday appeared before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) here after he was summoned by the federal probe agency in a Haryana land deal-linked money laundering case.

Vadra, 56, was first summoned in this case on April 8 but he did not depose. As a result, the agency issued a second notice on Tuesday.

“He (Vadra) was asked to appear for questioning as the ED is looking into the alleged financial irregularities concerning his firm, Skylight Hospitality,” official sources said.

The probe against Vadra, whose wife Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is the Congress MP from Kerala’s Wayanad, pertains to a land deal of February 2008 where Vadra’s company purchased a piece of 3.5-acre land in Shikohpur in Gurugram from a firm named Onkareshwar Properties at a price of Rs 7.5 crore.

It is alleged that Vadra’s company, subsequently, sold the parcel of land for Rs 58 crore to real estate giant DLF. The probe agency suspects that the windfall gains are nothing but a part of a money laundering scheme.

Meanwhile, Vadra termed the development as a political witch-hunt and misuse of investigative agencies by the BJP.

“Whenever I will speak up for people and make them heard, they will try to suppress me… I have always given all answers and continue to do so… The BJP is misusing the investigative agencies… Nothing has been found in past 20 years. We are ready for everything,” Vadra said.

The ED will record his statement under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the sources said.

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