New Delhi: Businessman Robert Vadra, husband of Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, appeared before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday for questioning in a money laundering case linked to UK-based arms consultant Sanjay Bhandari and others, according to official sources.
The 56-year-old Vadra reached the ED’s central Delhi office shortly after 11 am, accompanied by Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who represents Kerala’s Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency. His statement was recorded under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the sources said.
Vadra had been summoned twice last month in connection with the case but requested deferment due to overseas travel commitments.
He is under investigation in three separate money laundering cases, two of which involve alleged irregularities in land deals.
In April, the ED questioned him for three consecutive days regarding a 2008 Haryana land transaction. He is also being probed for alleged financial misconduct in a land deal in Bikaner, Rajasthan.
The case involving Vadra and Bhandari stems from ED findings in a 2023 chargesheet, which alleged that Bhandari "acquired" a property at 12 Bryanston Square in London in 2009 and had it renovated "as per the directions of Vadra, and the funds for renovation were provided by Robert Vadra." Vadra has denied any direct or indirect ownership of property in London, describing the allegations as a "political witch hunt against him" and stating that he was being "hounded and harassed" to subserve political ends.
Following Vadra’s deposition, the ED is expected to file a fresh chargesheet in the Bhandari case.
Sanjay Bhandari, 63, fled to London in 2016 after the income tax department conducted raids on him in Delhi. He was recently declared a fugitive economic offender by a Delhi court. A UK court had earlier rejected the Indian government’s request to appeal in Britain’s Supreme Court against Bhandari’s discharge in an extradition case, effectively ruling out the possibility of his return to face legal proceedings in India.
(inputs from PTI)