New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has charged Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul Gandhi with orchestrating a “criminal conspiracy” to seize properties belonging to the publisher of National Herald, Associated Journals Ltd (AJL), valued at Rs 2,000 crore. The assets were transferred to a private firm, Young Indian, controlled by the Gandhi family, for just Rs 50 lakh.
This forms the central issue in the ED’s chargesheet in the National Herald money laundering case, which also names Congress leaders Sam Pitroda and Suman Dubey as accused.
The current market value of the properties is now Rs 5,000 crore, with the ED identifying the “proceeds of crime” at Rs 988 crore. AJL was founded by India’s first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru.
In the chargesheet, Sonia Gandhi is named as accused no. 1, with Rahul Gandhi listed as accused no. 2. A special court is set to decide on the chargesheet’s cognizance on April 25.
The ED has called for a potential prison sentence of up to seven years for the accused under Section 4 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
