Karti Chidambaram arrested by CBI in INX Media money laundering case

Over the past year, several raids have been conducted on Karti Chidambaram’s offices and residences by the Enforcement Directorate and the CBI.
Karti Chidambaram arrested by CBI in INX Media money laundering case
Karti Chidambaram arrested by CBI in INX Media money laundering case
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After several raids on him in the past year by the ED and the CBI over his alleged involvement in the INX Media money laundering case, Karti Chidambaram, son of former Union Minister P Chidambaram, has been arrested by the CBI in Chennai.

Confirming the arrest, an official CBI spokesperson told TNM that Karti had been arrested at the Chennai airport, and that further details would be revealed later.

Karti had just landed in Chennai from London on Wednesday morning, and was held after he refused to cooperate with the investigating agency. He was being held at the international arrivals lounge at the Chennai airport.

The ED had also issued summons to Karti in January and raided his offices in Chennai and Delhi.

The CBI and ED have been probing how INX Media got a clearance from Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB). The CBI FIR also names INX Media directors, Peter and Indrani Mukerjea -- both accused in the Sheena Bora murder case.

Karti is facing a probe for his alleged role in facilitating the FIPB's clearance for INX Media when his father was the Union Finance Minister.

Karti is alleged to have received Rs 3.5 crore from Mumbai-based INX media, now 9X Media, for helping it get the FIPB clearance when it was run by the Mukerjeas.

The ED, which is probing financial misappropriation in the case, has contended that Mukerjeas had "allegedly siphoned off 90 million pounds and the money is suspected to have gone to foreign countries through hawala routes".

Following the FIPB clearance, INX Media said it had received Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) of Rs 46.20 million, but actually received Rs 3,053.60 million between August 2007 and May 2008, the ED said.

Accordingly, this excess foreign exchange equivalent to Rs 3,004.40 million, beyond the disclosed permitted foreign investment, was received by INX Media from three Mauritius-based investors, said the ED.

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