Robert Vadra not giving details of bank A/c, assets of family: ED to court

New Delhi: Robert Vadra, the son-in-law of interim Congress President Sonia Gandhi, has deliberately avoided furnishing key documents and other information sought from him during questioning, the Enforcement Directorate has told a local court. These include details of bank accounts in his and his family members’ name, details of his domestic credit and international debit cards, assets of his family members, proof of payments made for trips abroad from 2007 to 2012 and contact details of his associate, it said.

The central agency, which probes money-laundering cases, has claimed that it had gathered evidence indicating that Vadra was attempting to influence witnesses as well as destroying crucial evidence by disposing of his overseas assets.

The ED has alleged that in nearly half a dozen rounds of questioning since February this year, Vadra was asked to supply information which he undertook to furnish but till date had not. The agency made this statement in the court last week, people with direct knowledge of the matter said. The agency had asked Vadra to supply contact details of his alleged associates — Jagdish Sharma and CC Thampi, a UAE-based NRI businessman — travel agents, proof of payments for tickets and hotel and other expenditure incurred during his visits abroad. It had also sought Vadra’s bank statements corroborating the money spent by him for his foreign trips. He has also been asked to supply details of his visits to trade fairs from 2009.


The people said while the agency received a response from Vadra last month, it did not contain the complete details of information "repeatedly" sought by it since February. Vadra, the people said, contended that all his records were seized by the ED during raids last December.

The agency told the court that the information sought was unavailable in the documents seized and Vadra intentionally was refusing to part with it in order to frustrate ED’s probe into alleged money laundering. Vadra has repeatedly denied all allegations against him, calling those baseless. Vadra has claimed that he had fully cooperated with the agency’s probe. The case will come up for hearing next on November 5.