New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate on Thursday filed charge sheet against former Union minister P Chidambaram in the Aircel-Maxis money laundering case.
The agency has named nine accused in the case including Chidambaram, S Bhaskaraman and four Maxis companies.
CBI special judge OP Saini fixed November 26 for consideration of the charge sheet.
The Aircel-Maxis cases pertains to grant of Foreign Investment Promotion Board clearance to firm M/S Global Communication Holding Services Ltd in 2006 for investment in Aircel.
The ED has charged Chidambaram and others with laundering Rs 1.16 crore for the illegal approval given by the Congress leader for a foreign investment worth Rs 3,560 crore by Global Communication and Holdings, a subsidiary of Maxis Berhad, Malaysia, when he was the finance minister in 2006.
ED said Chidambaram, as the finance minister, was empowered to approve foreign investment up to Rs 600 crore only, but he violated the rule by not referring it to the Cabinet Committee of Economic Affairs.
The agency said its probe revealed that the case of the said FDI was “wrongly projected as an investment of Rs 180 crore so that it need not be sent to the CCEA to avoid a detailed scrutiny”.