Cong MP's son names Sonia's PA in fraud case

Cong MP's son names Sonia's PA in fraud case
HARISH GUPTA

NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 6: Abhishek Verma, the "super-rich" son of Congress MP Veena Verma, who has a string of FERA and Income Tax cases against him, has begun to squeal. Arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) a week ago in a fraud case - where he named former ED deputy director Ashok Aggarwal as an accomplice - Verma has named several prominent politicians as his "partners in crime".

Among those named by Verma are Vincent George, private secretary to Congress president Sonia Gandhi and a former Rajasthan minister. Verma has also given a detailed account of how he made his crores through imports and exports and how he channelised his hawala transactions.

Verma reportedly told the CBI that George bought prime property in Anand Niketan way back in 1992-93 after getting a huge donation in foreign exchange. These donations were received by George's wife, Verma claimed, after cash was sent to the donor in New York through the hawala channel. He's also said to have mentioned who this alleged donorwas.

Incidentally, the scheme to receive donations in foreign exchange had been permitted by the Narshimha Rao government in 1991-92 to tackle dwindling foreign exchange reserves. George's wife had got the money from New York, alleged Verma. But sending money abroad through hawala to receive a donation is an offence under FERA.

When contacted, George declined to say anything on the subject except that he had a property in Anand Niketan which had been duly assessed by Income Tax authorities. He denied the allegations made by Verma about hawala transactions.

Verma was arrested by the CBI in a case of forging a bank document to implicate Delhi jeweller Subhash Barjatya and "fix" his estranged wife in a FERA case. It was here that he allegedly took Aggarwal's help.

Since Verma is an NRI, the CBI had to wait for him to return to India. The moment he landed, he was arrested on December 1 and released on bail. His interrogation is reported to have lasted over three weeks during which he gave a detailedaccount of his nexus with Aggrawal. The CBI is also inquiring into a case against Aggrawal for possessing assets disproportionate to his income. Aggarwal is absconding.The CBI is knockng at the doors of Agrawal's offical residence at 56 Ashok Road, Pashchim Vihar and Bahadurgarh (Haryana).