Two Dubai properties, which were bought by then arms dealer with whom Vadra is being linked, are also under the IT scanner
New Delhi : A day after TV channels alleged that Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law Robert Vadra is involved in a proxy Rs.19 crore deal for a house in London along with an arms dealer Sanjay Bhandari, who is being investigated for financial crimes, the roving inquiry has moved to the tax haven of British Virgin Islands and Dubai.
According to government sources, which NDTV cited on Tuesday, it is suspected that the house in London, bought in 2009 and sold a year later, was bought by a shell company incorporated in the British Virgin Islands by Bhandari.
Other purchases, including two properties bought by Bhandari in Dubai for Rs 24 crores, are also under the scanner and investigators are trying to determine who paid for them and whether the payment was through the hawala channels. It is further suspected that a company named Skylite is associated with the purchases.
Bhandari is dodging the authorities on one pretext or the other: he was to appear for questioning on Monday and Tuesday before the income tax authorities but wriggled out claiming he is unwell and needs a week-long respite, tax officials told NDTV.
Last month, Bhandari’s home and some other properties were raided and investigators were able to retrieve data from his Blackberry and his computers. The data yielded a cache of emails allegedly between Vadra and his assistant on the one hand and the arms dealer’s aide on the other regarding the purchase of a London house for approximately Rs. 19 crore which was subsequently said to have been sold.
One of the mails, dated April 4, 2010, which discusses a payment, is addressed to Sumit Chadda, a relative of the arms dealer in London, and is signed off “Cheers, Robert Vadra”, according to the report submitted by investigators to the Finance Ministry, reports NDTV.
