National Herald case: Classic case of money laundering, ED tells Delhi court

New Delhi: This is a classic case where the offence of money laundering is made against all accused, the Enforcement Directorate on Thursday argued before a Delhi court in the National Herald case.

Continuing his argument on the point of chargesheet's cognisance before special judge Vishal Gogne, additional solicitor general S V Raju said Sonia and Rahul Gandhi were the "beneficial owners" of Young Indian and acquired 100 per cent control after the death of other shareholders.

"These two persons controlled the All India Congress Committee (AICC). They saw that AICC released a Rs 90 crore loan (to Associated Journals Limited or AJL, a Rs 2,000 crore company, the publisher of the National Herald newspaper). The purpose…target was to have Rs 2,000 crore," Raju said.

The Gandhis were responsible for the conduct of the business of Young Indian and that the "sham transaction" could not have been conducted without their consent, he added.

Raju said the fraudulent takeover of properties valued over Rs 2,000 crore belonging to the AJL was with the connivance and consent of the accused, including the Gandhis.

Highlighting the role of the other accused, the ASG said Suman Dubey was one of the directors of Young Indian, who transferred 550 shares to Sonia.

"The shareholding (by Dubey) was only for namesake. He was a puppet of Gandhis. The sham transaction could not have taken place without his connivance," Raju argued.

He said accused Sam Pitroda had demanded the letter of conversion, Dotex Merchandise Private Limited assisted in the acquisition of proceeds of crime by giving a sham loan and Sunil Bhandari was the person responsible for conducting Dotex’s business.

"This is a classic case where the offence of money laundering is made against all the accused. I request you to take cognisance," Raju said.

The hearing would continue on July 4.

On July 2, the Enforcement Directorate had alleged that Sonia and Rahul Gandhi wanted to usurp the assets of AJL.

Raju had said a conspiracy was hatched to form Young Indian Private Limited in which the Gandhis held 76 per cent shares to usurp the assets of AJL, which took a Rs 90 crore loan from the All India Congress Committee (AICC) despite having assets worth in crores.

The ED had filed its chargesheet against Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and others under Sections 3 (money laundering) and 4 (punishment for money laundering) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The ED accuses the Gandhis, late Congress leaders Motilal Vora and Oscar Fernandes aside from Suman Dubey, Sam Pitroda and a private company Young Indian of conspiracy and money laundering over the fraudulent takeover of properties valued over Rs 2,000 crore belonging to the AJL.

The chargesheet names the Gandhis, Dudey, Pitroda, Sunil Bhandari, Young Indian, and Dotex Merchandise Private Limited.