National Herald Case: ED Attaches Assets Worth Over Rs 750 Crore In Money Laundering Probe, Congress Calls Action ‘Vendetta Tactics’

The federal probe agency alleged in a statement that in this case the shareholders and donors of the Congress were "cheated" by the office-bearers of AJL and the party.

New Delhi: In a major setback for the Congress party, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday said it has attached immovable assets and equity shares worth about Rs 752 crore as part of its ongoing money laundering investigation against the National Herald newspaper and companies linked to it.

According to the reports, the immovable assets that have been attached include the National Herald’s office premises at ITO in Delhi, the Nehru Bhawan at Mall Avenue near Kaiserbagh in Lucknow and the Herald House in Mumbai.

Slamming the Central agency’s action, the Congress called the ED action as “petty vendetta tactics” and dubbed the agency a “coalition partner” of the BJP which, it claimed, is staring at a certain defeat in the assembly polls.

The assembly elections in five states – Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Telangana and Mizoram – are in progress and the counting of votes is scheduled to be held on December 3.

The federal probe agency alleged in a statement that in this case the shareholders and donors of the Congress were “cheated” by the office-bearers of AJL and the party.

A provisional attachment order has been issued by the federal probe agency under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) against Associated Journals Ltd. (AJL) and Young Indian (YI).

What Does ED Said In Its Statement:

In the statement, the ED said it has issued the order to provisionally attach properties worth Rs 751.9 crore in the money laundering case being investigated by it under the PMLA.

Under the law, such a provisional order has to be approved by the Adjudicating Authority of PMLA in a time period of six months following which the ED can take possession of the attached properties.

“Investigation revealed that Associated Journals Ltd. (AJL) is in possession of proceeds of crime in the form of immovable properties spread across many cities of India such as Delhi, Mumbai and Lucknow to the tune of Rs. 661.69 crore and Young Indian (YI) is in possession of proceeds of crime to the tune of Rs. 90.21 crore in the form of investment in equity shares of AJL,” it said.

The Gandhis, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and party leaders Pawan Bansal, D K Shivakumar (Karnataka deputy chief minister) and his MP brother D K Suresh were questioned and their statements were recorded by the agency in connection with the case last year.