CHENNAI: After the CBI booked Karti P Chidambaram and four others on charges of bribery to facilitate the issuance of visas to bring Chinese nationals to complete work on a 1,980MW thermal power plant at Mansa in Punjab between 2010 and 2014, the Enforcement Directorate has filed a Prosecution Complaint under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, before the special court in New Delhi.
The ED has filed the complaint against Karti, Advantage Strategic Consulting Private Limited, S Bhaskararaman, Talwandi Sabo Power Limited, and others in the case about money laundering.
The court took cognizance of the prosecution complaint on March 19, a release stated. The ED based its investigation on the FIR registered by the CBI under IPC and the Prevention of Corruption Act. The probe revealed that Karti took Rs 50 lakh through his close aide S Bhaskararaman for getting approval to reuse Chinese visas by Talwandi Sabo Power Limited, which was establishing a power project at Mansa.
Officials of company approached Karti to get approval for the reuse of visas from Ministry of Home Affairs when his father, P Chidambaram, was the Home Minister. The alleged modus operandi involved the company paying Rs 50 lakh via a cheque to an entry operator under the garb of fictitious services, who in turn paid the amount as cash to Bhaskararaman.