The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has accused Sonia and Rahul Gandhi, late Congress leaders Motilal Vora and Oscar Fernandes, as well as Suman Dubey, Sam Pitroda, and a private company, Young Indian, of conspiracy and money laundering over the fraudulent takeover of properties valued at over '2000 crore belonging to Associated Journals Limited (AJL)
Rahul and Sonia Gandhi are in the spotlight. File pic/PTI
Senior advocate RS Cheema, representing Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, on Saturday argued that the All India Congress Committee (AICC) was not trying to sell the assets of Associated Journals Limited (AJL), but rather attempting to save the institution, which was part of the freedom movement.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has accused Sonia and Rahul Gandhi, late Congress leaders Motilal Vora and Oscar Fernandes, as well as Suman Dubey, Sam Pitroda, and a private company, Young Indian, of conspiracy and money laundering over the fraudulent takeover of properties valued at over '2000 crore belonging to Associated Journals Limited (AJL), which published the National Herald newspaper.
“Can my friend [ED counsel] tell me why they were shy of placing the Memorandum of Association (MoA) of AJL? The AJL MoA said that the policy of AJL will be the policy of the INC. All through, AJL did not have profits. In the post-Independence period, it was never a commercial institution. We [All India Congress Committee] were trying to retrieve an institution which is part of the freedom movement heritage. The problem was not recovering the loan [given to AJL]; the problem was to revive it, to see that it comes back on the rails. The AICC was not looking for profit from sales. This is a squinted version,” Cheema said.
The ED alleges the Gandhis held a majority 76 per cent share in Young Indian, which fraudulently usurped the assets of AJL in exchange for a '90 crore loan. The investigative agency has filed a chargesheet against the Gandhis and others under Sections 3 and 4 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The chargesheet also names Sunil Bhandari, Young Indian, and Dotex Merchandise Pvt Ltd.
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