The ED has been questioning Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi’s husband Robert Vadra over allegations of money laundering. The ED had alleged that Vadra owns a 1.9 million pounds property in London through a benami.
The ED had submitted in court that 12, Bryanstone Square in London has been purchased through Vadra’s close aide Manoj Arora. The probing agency also alleges that the property has been purchased through money laundered through Dubai and in violation of the Black Money Act.
As per reports, the ED’s probe on Vadra’s links with arms dealer Bhandari and benami properties in London were unearthed when Bhandari was raided by Income Tax officials back in 2016 and email trails related to the renovation and payments for the London house, allegedly between Vadra, Bhandari and Manoj Arora were found.
Arora too has been under ED’s scanner and he has been interrogated along with several other associates of Vadra by the agency.
Back in 2016, when the London property links first came to news, it was alleged that the property at 12, Bryanston square was bought through a Sharjah-based firm.
As Vadra was interrogated by the ED over two days on the allegations and suspected links with arms dealer Sanjay Bhandari, the London properties were being constantly discussed in the media.
Rajdeep Sardesai ran a show in India Today TV yesterday claiming that the concerned properties in London are not registered in the name of Robert Vadra.
#BREAKING: Robert Vadra’s name not there in London land registry papers. @loveenatandon & @itsmunish join us with more#NewsToday
LIVE: https://t.co/4fqxBVUizL pic.twitter.com/NcsfucpYXy— India Today (@IndiaToday) February 7, 2019
The fact that not being registered in the name of the actual owner is the whole point of a ‘Benami’ property was carefully ignored.
The careful omission of the basic detail and the assertion that Vadra’s name is not mentioned in the property documents, so the ED’s case might be wrongly targeted, was not missed by many on social media.
That is precisely what normal ppl call “Benami” and media calls “innocence” #facepalm https://t.co/ReamNvnlSw
— Ashu (@muglikar_) February 7, 2019
Rajdeep Sardesai screams repeatedly in the news video that the property details show the name of a couple and not Robert Vadra’s name does not feature anywhere.
Height of Investigative journalism in India is
1. Pallavi Ghose drooling over Priyanka Vadra’s nameplate.
2. Rajdeep discovering Robber Vadra’s ‘benami’ property is not in his name.
3. Sagarika discovering semen in Holi balloons.
4. Barkha declaring chit fund scam as Bengal Pride— Shefali Vaidya ஷெஃபாலி வைத்யா शेफाली वैद्य (@ShefVaidya) February 8, 2019
#Breaking : Benami means … Property should be in the name of acutual owner.
Excellent ..Mr Benami spokesman https://t.co/GDM0NrQ3Nm
— Shandilya Giriraj Singh (@girirajsinghbjp) February 8, 2019
A Benami property is one where the original owners name do not appear. Don’t make an ass out of yourself Rajdeep. It is a pity you are a Goan. https://t.co/pBtL8UHNO8
— Savio Rodrigues ?? (@PrinceArihan) February 8, 2019
As per reports, Bhandari had even admitted back in 2016, that the emails between him, Vadra and Manoj Arora were regarding the renovation and finalising the interiors of the London property.
In the last few days, the mainstream media has been going gaga over Vadra’s wife, Priyanka Vadra dropping him and picking him up from the ED office in Delhi. However, the deliberate omission of facts and attempts at steering away the public attention from crucial details were nailed by social media.
