New Delhi: The ED has alleged that Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul orchestrated a “criminal conspiracy” to “usurp” properties of National Herald’s publisher, Associated Journals Ltd (AJL), worth Rs 2,000 crore, by transferring 99% of the shares for just Rs 50 lakh.
The current market value of the assets is now Rs 5,000 crore, and the ED has identified the “proceeds of crime” at Rs 988 crore, sources told PTI. The AJL was founded by India’s first prime minister, Jawarharlal Nehru. In the ED chargesheet, Sonia has been named accused no 1, and Rahul as accused no 2. A special court will decide on taking cognisance of the chargesheet on April 25.
The case is based on an order of a trial court that allowed the Income Tax department to investigate the affairs of the National Herald and conduct a tax assessment of the Gandhis. The trial court order came on a petition filed by former minister Subramanian Swamy in 2013. While Sonia and Rahul own a 76% stake in Young Indian, 24% belonged to the late Motilal Vohra and the late Oscar Fernandes.
The leaders “converted” the outstanding loan of Rs 90.21 crore given by Congress to AJL into Rs 9.02 crore equity shares. Through this transfer, Sonia and Rahul became the “beneficial” owners of properties of AJL worth thousands of crores.
