Arvind Kejriwal and Prashant Bhushan on Friday alleged that the Congress first family’s son-in-law had bought property worth crores of rupees between 2007 and 2010 with an “unsecured interest-free loan” of Rs 65 crore doled out by DLF.
At a press conference here, Kejriwal and his team members alleged that the property were bought at a price much lesser than the market value.
Questioning the source of the seed money that helped Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law Robert Vadra to go on a real-estate buying spree that included 31 property, the IAC activist alleged that he was given “interest-free” and “unsecured” loans by DLF Ltd. “The DLF gave Vadra an interest-free loan of Rs 65 crore. His five companies, which on paper were worth Rs 50 lakh, used this loan to buy DLF properties. From 2007 to 2010, Vadra bought property worth Rs 300 crore, that is now valued at Rs 500 crore. How did he afford this?” wondered Kejriwal, flanked by lawyer and associate Bhushan.
The ostensible “seed money for his acquisition is shown to have come from unsecured interest-free loans from DLF Ltd. What was DLF’s interest in giving him hugely-discounted property? Were they doing charity by giving the interest-free, unsecured loan? If yes, then have they done charity with their other customers as well,” Kejriwal pointedly asked. The team alleged that the Congress government in Haryana, in a quid pro quo deal, awarded land reserved for public interest projects to the DLF. This, they claimed, was in exchange of favours to Vadra.
Mounting further allegations, Kejriwal and associates claimed that Vadra also purchased DLF property at throwaway prices. The team released documents saying the Congress chief’s son-in-law was allotted seven flats in Magnolia Apartments in DLF Gurgaon at a total price of Rs 5.2 crore, while the market price of each flat was well over Rs 5 crore.
In other words, they alleged Vadra had paid a meagre Rs 5.2 crore for property worth over Rs 35 crore.
Refuting these charges, much of which was reported by a business daily in March 2011, a DLF spokesperson said the companies business relationship with Vadra is “completely transparent” and conducted in “highest standards of ethics”.
“It is well-known that DLF has been given 350 acres of land by the Haryana government for the development of Magnolia project in Gurgaon - where Vadra was allocated seven flats. And it has been given various other property and benefits by the Congress governments in Haryana and Delhi,” Bhushan claimed.
He further added: “Is that the quid pro quo for DLF giving Vadra the seed money for the purchase of property?”
In a rebuttal, Haryana Chief Minister Bhupindra Singh Hooda said: “We have not favoured anyone. We have given the land through international bidding to the highest bidder in a transparent manner.”
Similarly, the activists alleged that Vadra purchased a 10,000 sq feet apartment in DLF Aralias, Gurgaon, at Rs 98 lakh when its market price in 2010 was Rs 20 crore. Vadra has shown the purchase of 50 per cent stake in DLF-owned Hilton Hotel Saket at Rs 32 crore even though its market value was well above Rs 150 crore, alleged Kejriwal.
“It is clear that there is a lot of unaccounted black money invested in these property of Vadra. What is the source of these funds? Are illicit funds of the Congress being funneled into this property-buying spree by the son-in-law,” he said.