Another George in trouble, this time Sonia's headache

Another George in trouble, this time Sonia's headache
DALIP SINGH

NEW DELHI, MARCH 21: The CBI has registered a formal case against Congress president Sonia Gandhi's influential private secretary Vincent George for allegedly possessing wealth worth over Rs 3 crore which is disproportionate to his known sources of income.

George faces the disproportionate assets case because he worked as public servant (between November 1984 and December 1990) when he was private secretary to Rajiv Gandhi when he was Prime Minister and later, Leader of the Opposition. His total salary drawn from the Consolidated Fund of India during this period was Rs 2 lakh. The case will be heard in the court of Special Judge R L Chug.

George was unavailable for comment.

According to the CBI, George is found to have eight pieces of real-estate, including five in Delhi and two in Bangalore. These are mainly in the name of his wife, Lilly George. The market value of these assets are estimated to be Rs 1.59 crore while bank accounts and fixed deposits amount to Rs 1.5 crore, sources said.

A CBI officer said that he had acquired the property after he ceased to be a public servant in December 1990.

The CBI's probe began after disclosures by former ED deputy director Ashok Agarwal who was arrested in a FERA violation case on December 23, 1999. It was on that basis that the CBI began a preliminary inquiry on March 14, 2000.

According to the CBI, George allegedly received hefty cash gifts from relatives and friends settled abroad. These include a Rs 1.25-crore deposit in November 1991; Rs 41 lakh in December, 1991; Rs 70 lakh in March 1997 and Rs 25 lakh in November 1999. The extent of disproportionate assets is Rs 9.61 lakh, the CBI's calculation states.

In their statement to the CBI, George is said to have claimed that the assets were because of the income of two companies, Lilliens Exports and Diana Agencies, both owned by his wife. However, what the CBI is pointing out is a written statement from Lilly that business was generated by these two companies only for one year, between 1991 and 1992.

When Rajiv Gandhi died, George became personal secretary of his wife, Sonia Gandhi. Initially, he was drawing Rs 5,000 as a salary from All India Congress Committee (AICC) for discharging his duties, but it was later hiked by Rs 3,000, he told the CBI.

George's `properties'
List of real-estate assets owned by Vincent George and wife, according to the CBI and their market value:
* Two-and-a-half storied house in Anand Niketan, Delhi: Rs 85 lakh
* First floor of a commercial property in Defence Colony, Delhi: Rs 9.45 lakh
* Two shops in World Trade Centre, Connaught Place, Delhi: Rs 10.5 lakh
* Property in Neb Sarai village, South Delhi (bought & sold by Lilly George's father): Rs 32 lakh
* Flat in a housing society in Delhi: Rs 5 lakh
* Agricultural land in Delhi: Rs 1.14 lakh
* Four real-estate assets in Bangalore: Rs 8.99 lakh
* Agricultural land in Bangalore: Rs 5.95 lakh