The Enforcement Directorate (ED) summoned senior advocate Nalini Chidambaram, wife of former finance minister P Chidambaram, in connection with the Saradha Ponzi scam case. Nalini has been asked to appear before the investigating officer in the agency office in Kolkata on Wednesday.
"Her name had cropped up while investigation into the scam was underway. We have issued a summon and are expecting her to cooperate with us in our probe into the scam," an ED official said.
She was last summoned by the agency on May 7, but she appealed against the summons before the Madras High Court.
The agency said that they want to record her statement under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) with regard to a specific link that has been revealed in the case.
She was allegedly paid a legal fee of Rs 1.26 crore by the Saradha group for her appearances in court and the Company Law Board over a television channel purchase deal.
She had earlier been questioned by the ED and CBI in this regard, but agency sources had claimed that she was being summoned in the light of new evidence.
The case pertains to Saradha Group's chit fund scheme. The company was running several collective investment schemes (chit funds), which collapsed in 2013. It suffered an estimated loss of about Rs 2,500 crore, affecting over 20 lakh depositors.
Subsequently, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee set up an inquiry commission to investigate the scam.
Acting on a Supreme Court order, the Centre also asked the Income Tax department to launch a multi-agency probe along with the CBI and the ED.
In April 2013, Sudipta Sen, the discredited chairman of the Saradha Group, was arrested from a hotel in Kashmir along with two others. On June 4, 2013, CBI has registered four cases in connection with the Saradha chit fund scam.
