Businessman Robert Vadra, husband of Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and brother-in-law of Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, appeared before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday in connection with a money laundering investigation involving two London-based properties. Gandhi Vadra accompanied her husband to the agency's Delhi office for the questioning.
The investigation concerns two upscale properties located at 19, Bryanston Square and Grosvenor Hill Court, 13 Bourdon Street in London. Both properties were owned by UK-based arms consultant Sanjay Bhandari. The ED alleges that these are benami properties held on behalf of Robert Vadra, and the agency is examining his alleged links to Bhandari as part of the broader money laundering probe. Vadra has firmly denied all allegations and said he is being "hounded and harassed" by the Enforcement Directorate.
According to officials, the Bryanston Square property was purchased by Bhandari in 2009, but the funds for the acquisition allegedly came from Vadra. Investigators claim that the property was later renovated under Vadra's instructions and that he had stayed at the address on multiple occasions during his visits to London. These two properties are among several assets now being scrutinised by the ED as suspected 'proceeds of crime' under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The agency had filed a PMLA case related to this matter in 2016.
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Vadra had previously missed at least two summons issued by the ED in connection with this case last month. Sources close to him indicated that his absence was due to travel abroad to attend his daughter’s graduation ceremony. The probe has also widened to include a deeper look into benami transactions involving Sanjay Bhandari, who is wanted in India for tax evasion and money laundering. In addition to the ED’s investigation, Bhandari faces scrutiny from the Income Tax Department, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), and the Delhi Police, for alleged violations ranging from foreign exchange regulations to the Official Secrets Act.
Just last week, a special court in Delhi declared Bhandari a fugitive economic offender in an income tax case linked to undisclosed foreign assets. Two earlier extradition attempts by Indian authorities were rejected by a UK court this year, citing concerns over possible mistreatment in Indian jails. Another figure in the case is Dubai-based NRI businessman CC Thampi, who is alleged to have played a key role in facilitating the property transactions through a company based in Dubai.
This is not the first time Vadra has come under the ED’s scanner. In April, he was questioned in another money laundering case related to a 2008 land deal in Haryana. That probe pertained to land purchased by Vadra’s firm, Skylight Hospitality, for ₹7.5 crore and later sold to real estate major DLF for ₹58 crore. At the time, Vadra had dismissed the ED’s actions as a “political witch-hunt” targeting him and his family.
Also Read: ED summons Robert Vadra again in Sanjay Bhandari PMLA case
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