ED names Robert Vadra as accused in case against UK-based arms consultant

Bhandari fled to London after a search by the Income Tax department in 2016. A year later, the ED had filed a criminal case against him under the anti-black money law of 2015. The agency had also been probing Bhandari’s links with Vadra.

The ED complaint against Vadra was filed three months after it named him in a prosecution complaint linked to its money laundering investigation into a 2008 land deal involving a 3.53-acre plot in Shikohpur village in Gurgaon’s Sector 83.

It is learnt that the ED investigation found that Vadra had a role in assisting Bhandari and using the property at 12, Bryanston Square, London which, the agency claimed, was the proceeds of crime.

Vadra had denied owning any London property directly or indirectly.

In July this year, a Delhi court declared Bhandari a fugitive economic offender, paving the way for the ED to seize his assets. According to the ED, undisclosed foreign income or assets of Bhandari were worth Rs 655 crore and the total tax evaded by him, including penalty and interest, was Rs 196 crore.

“The evidence gathered by ED indicates that the property acquired by Bhandari was beneficially used by Vadra… for his personal use,” sources said.

The ED probe found that Vadra furnished the property at 12, Bryanston Square which was purchased by Bhandari for GBP 1.9 million.