Indrani and Peter's statements helped nail Chidambaram

NEW DELHI: The statements of Indrani Mukherjea and her husband Peter Mukerjea , the promoters of INX Media, to the Enforcement Directorate played a crucial role in former finance minister P Chidambaram’s prosecution in the INX Media money laundering case.


Indrani told the agency that after INX Media’s application was submitted to the Foreign Investment Promotion Board for foreign direct investment approval, she went to meet Chidambaram at his office in North Block, Delhi, along with her husband and a senior company executive.

“Peter started the conversation with P Chidambaram and referred to INX Media’s application to bring FDI and handed a copy of the application to him (Chidambaram). After having understood the issue, Chidambaram told Peter to help his son Karti in his business and make possible overseas remittances in lieu of FIPB approval,” Indrani told ED. Her statement is part of the chargesheet and attachment orders filed by the ED before court.

Indrani refused to say how much money was paid to address Chidambaram’s interest. “In 2008, after they came to know about alleged irregularities of the company pertaining to FIPB approval, Peter decided that they should approach P Chidambaram, the then FM, to resolve these issues. Peter said the alleged violations could be regularised with Karti Chidambaram’s help and advice, as his father was the then FM,” the ED said.

Indrani told ED that they met Karti in a Delhi hotel. “Karti asked if $1 million could be transferred into an overseas account either owned by him or his associates in order to sort the matter. When Peter said overseas transfer won’t be possible, he suggested names of two firms ‘Chess Management’ and ‘Advantage Strategic’ as alternatives to make payments,” she said.