Robert Vadra being investigated for allegedly owning benami house in London
NEW DELHI: As tax officials further their inquiry into whether a London house was proxy-bought for Robert Vadra, they claim to be discovering a trail of money that includes Delhi, London, the Middle East and the tax haven of the British Virgin Islands through a matrix of companies linked to or owned by Sanjay Bhandari, a controversial arms dealer.
The London home was bought in June 2010 for 1,900,000 pounds (about 19 crores in current forex rates) by a company named Mayfair, incorporated in the United Arab Emirates.
Tax officials have sought information on the ownership of Mayfair from authorities in Sharjah. The company address is listed as PO Box 49304, Hamriyah Free Zone - Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.
To denounce any links to Mr Vadra, Congress spokespersons and supporters have been citing a media report which says UK land records do not show Mr Vadra, Mr Bhandari or any company linked to him as the owner of the home. However, that article does not use the address clearly mentioned in the investigation report submitted to the Finance Ministry: 12, Ellerton House, Bryanston Square, and therefore offers ownership records entirely unconnected to the government's inquiry.
Ellerton House refers to a complex (10-12 Bryanston Square) near Marble Arch in London. The title deed (see screenshot below) shows Mayfair as the owner of Flat 12.
Ownership records for Flat 12, 12 Bryanston Square also reveal Mayfair as the owner.
Investigators stress that Mr Vadra's suspected link to the home is based not on property records - after all, the transaction was allegedly benami (Mr Bhandari is not listed as the owner either) - but on emails recovered from raids on Mr Bhandari, the arms dealer's own testimony and a detailed note from Barclays Bank which was allegedly involved in the transaction.
In emails, Mr Vadra and his assistant Manoj Arora discuss arranging payments worth thousands of pounds for the Bryanston Square house. To Sumit Chadda, a relative of Mr Bhandari in London, Mr Vadra writes on April 4, 2010 that he "would look into the issue" of reimbursement for expenses and adds that his secretary, Manoj, will be "in touch".
Mr Vadra's lawyers have said he has no connection to the London property.
NDTV cannot independently comment on the authenticity of the emails quoted by investigators in their report. However on Monday, after reporting on the government inquiry, NDTV wrote to Mr Vadra's lawyers asking if they would deny any such exchange took place; no response has been received so far.
Investigators say that along with determining the ownership of Mayfair, which bought the London house, they are trying to confirm if it was owned earlier by a firm incorporated in the British Virgin Islands.
