Saradha chit fund scam: ED summons Nalini Chidambaram

 The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has summoned Nalini Chidambaram, lawyer-wife of former Finance Minister P Chidambaram, in connection with its probe into a money laundering case related to the Saradha chit fund scam.

Nalini has been asked to appear before the agency in early September in Kolkata, where her statement will be recorded under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), official sources said.

The investigators would try to ascertain the legal fee paid to her by the Saradha group, which amounts to around Rs 1.26 crore, sources said. They would also want to figure out how the money was paid to her.

Nalini had earlier denied any wrongdoing and said that whatever money was paid to her was done in a transparent manner.

The ED and CBI had earlier quizzed Nalini in connection with the case. The fresh summons came against the backdrop of emergence of new evidence and the investigators want to corroborate it, they said.

Nalini's name cropped up in the scam after a letter written by main accused Sudipto Sen, the jailed Saradha Chairman, came to light. Sen had mentioned about hiring Nalini as a lawyer on the request of Manoranjana Sinh.