Fourth case against Karti Chidambaram: CBI registers case for alleged relief to Diageo Scotland

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has filed a corruption case against Karti Chidambaram, son of former finance minister and Congress leader P Chidambaram, for providing assistance to liquor company Diageo Scotland.

The CBI FIR said the case pertains to an alleged dubious payment to Advantage Strategic Consulting Pvt. Ltd (ASCPL), controlled by Karti Chidambaram and his close aide S Bhaskararaman of Diageo Scotland and Sequoia Capital. by

This is already the fourth case against Karti Chidambaram, apart from three other corruption cases involving Aircel Maxis, Chinese employees Visa and INX Media. This particular case stems from a preliminary investigation against Katra Holdings, ASCPL, Karti Chidambaram and others, registered by the CBI in 2018 to look into alleged irregularities in granting Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) clearance when P Chidambaram was the finance minister.

ASCPL, Diageo Scotland, Mauritius-based Sequoia Capital, Vasan Healthcare Pvt Ltd have also been named by the CBI along with Chidambaram and Bhaskararaman.A case has been registered under IPC 120-B (criminal). conspiracy), 420 (fraud) and provisions of the Law on Prevention of Corruption.

The CBI said the inquiry found that Diageo Scotland, UK was using duty-free imports of Johnnie Walker whiskey. in April, the Indian Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC), which had a monopoly on the sale of duty-free liquor imported into India, banned the sale of Diageo’s duty-free products in India.

This embargo affected the company’s revenue. The CBI stated that 70 percent of the company’s business came from the sale of Johnnie Walker whiskey. Diageo Scotland then appealed to Karti Chidambaram to pay $15,000 to ASCPL. which he accepted as a “consulting fee”.

The agency is also looking into questionable share deals involving Sequoia Capital and Vasan Healthcare while they were waiting for foreign investment in India.According to the agency, Sequoia paid ASCPL and Vasan Healthcare’s late founder Arun Rs 86.80 crore. at Rs 7,500 per share, while the actual market rate was Rs 1.27 billion.

The CBI further alleged that Meera Arun, wife of the founder of Vasan Healthcare, subscribed to 5.80 lakh shares of Vasan at Rs 200 per share in 2008. on October 28. He then gifted 3 lakh shares to his father Dwarkanathan, who has since died. . The next day, in 2008 On October 29, Dwarkanathan sold half of these shares to ASCPL at Rs 100 per share, according to the FIR.

The agency claims that there is no entry in ASCPL’s account to pay Rs 1.50 crore to Dwarkanathan on October 26, 2010, allegedly selling 30,000 of the 1.5 lakh shares to Sequoia Capital India. to Growth Investment Mauritius, a sister concern of Sequoia, at Rs 7,500 per share, total 22.50 rupees as mentioned in the FIR.

On the same day, Arun, CMD of Vasan Health, also sold 52,133 shares to Sequoia Capital India Growth Investment Mauritius at Rs 7,500 per share, amounting to Rs 39.09 crore.In addition, 33,600 shares were sold to Sequoia Capital India Growth Investment-II to Mauritius at Rs 7,500 per share, amounting to Rs 25.20 crore, the FIR alleged.

The CBI also alleged that Dwarkanathan received Rs 1 crore from ASCPL on October 27, 2010, which did not appear in ASCPL’s accounts.The FIR alleged that the share transactions at such high prices were not in the ordinary course of business were part of a conspiracy in favor of Karti P Chidambaram that could have influenced government servants.