ED probes Fema violations against Karti Chidambaram

NEW DELHI: On Wednesday, a day after the Income Tax (IT) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) carried out raids at firms purportedly linked to Karti Chidambaram, son of former union finance minister P Chidambaram, investigators claimed that they are examining alleged Fema violations of Rs22.2 crores by Advantage Strategic Consultants Ltd (ASCL) and Vasan Healthcare, purportedly between 2008 and 2010.

The agencies claimed to have unearthed documents during these raids which indicated that venture capital firm, Sequoia Capital, was allegedly “roped in” for misuse of the foreign direct investment (FDI) policy, according to the people cited.

An ED spokesperson confirmed to ET that the probe is related to Fema violations and they came upon these links during their probe into the Aircel-Maxis deal. An e-mail questionnaire to Karti Chidambaram remained unan-swered. According to ED sources, Vasan sold nearly 1.5 lakhs shares to Advantage at Rs100 in 2008.

These shares, according to ED sources, were purchased for Rs200 and it is yet to be established why these shares were sold at a 50% discount, said officials familiar with the probe. In 2010, out of the 1.5 lakh shares, Advantage sold 30,000 to Sequoia Capital at Rs7,500 per share.

The total transaction value was Rs22.5 crore. An e-mail query sent to Sequoia capital did not receive a response. During its probe, ED also found that Advantage had sold a majority stake in 2011 to Ausbridge holdings, a company backed by Karti, at what investigating officials termed as a “throwaway” price.