Robert Vadra (ANI)
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday submitted a chargesheet identifying Robert Vadra as an accused in a money-laundering case connected to UK-based defence dealer Sanjay Bhandari.Officials said the prosecution complaint has been submitted before Delhi’s Rouse Avenue Court as part of the ongoing investigation. Vadra’s statement under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) was recorded in July this year.Bhandari, now based in the UK, is wanted in India for allegedly receiving kickbacks in defence deals through UAE, UAE-registered shell companies. Investigators say the defence middleman, linked to transactions involving platforms such as the Pilatus trainer aircraft, routed large sums into overseas shell accounts and invested in properties in the UAE and the UK between 2009 and 2016.In a separate case, earlier this year, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) filed a chargesheet in a Rouse Avenue court accusing Robert Vadra of laundering “proceeds of crime” in a Gurgaon land deal worth over Rs 58 crore. Along with Vadra, the agency named 11 others, including Onkareshwar Properties and its promoters Satyanand Yajee and K S Virk, according to sources.The ED also filed a chargesheet on April 17 against Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi in the National Herald money-laundering probe. Robert Vadra remains under the scanner in multiple money-laundering investigations linked to land deals executed during previous Congress governments in Haryana and Rajasthan. He is accused of receiving favourable treatment from the then Haryana administration under former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, which allegedly allowed the conversion of his land from agricultural to commercial or residential use, enabling substantial gains.Vadra is also being probed in a separate money-laundering case tied to absconding defence dealer Sanjay Bhandari. Investigators allege he acquired properties in London and Dubai through Bhandari using funds routed from defence contracts.In the present case, for which a chargesheet has now been filed, the ED says Vadra purchased 3.5 acres in Shikohpur village, Sector 83, Gurgaon, through Skylight Hospitality Pvt Ltd from Onkareshwar Properties on February 12, 2008, for Rs 7.5 crore. The then Congress government reportedly granted a commercial licence for 2.7 acres soon after, and the land was sold to DLF four months later for ₹58 crore, generating a profit of about ₹50 crore.The ED’s probe is based on a 2018 Gurgaon police FIR alleging fraud in the transaction. On Wednesday, the agency also seized 43 properties worth over Rs 37 crore linked to Vadra and his entities, including Skylight Hospitality.