Former finance minister P. Chidambaram appeared before the Enforcement Directorate on Friday in connection with a money laundering probe related to INX Media.
The Congress leader, who was summoned to record his statement under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), arrived at the agency's office in central Delhi around 11 am. Chidambaram has been questioned several times in this case earlier. His son Karti was questioned by the agency in the same case on Thursday for about six hours.
The ED attached Karti's assets worth an estimated Rs 54 crore, located in India and abroad, last year.
The agency recorded an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) - the ED's equivalent of a police FIR - on the basis of a CBI FIR and alleged irregularities in the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) clearance to INX Media for receiving overseas funds to the tune of Rs 305 crore in 2007, when Chidambaram was the finance minister. Among those named were Karti, INX Media and its directors -- Peter and Indrani Mukerjea.
Karti was arrested on February 28 last year by the CBI, the other central agency investigating the case, for allegedly taking money to facilitate the FIPB clearance to INX Media in 2007. He was granted bail.
The agency has alleged that Karti received money from INX Media, using his influence to manipulate a tax probe against it in a case of violation of FIPB conditions to receive investments from Mauritius.
