Centre Allows CBI to Prosecute P Chidambaram in INX Media Case
New Delhi, Feb 22: The CBI is likely to file a chargesheet in the INX media foreign investment clearance case as it has received sanction from the Centre to prosecute former finance minister P Chidambaram, under whose tenure approval for it was given, officials said Friday.
They said after clearance from the Centre, giving a go-ahead to the agency to press charges against Chidambaram, the CBI might soon proceed with the filing of the chargesheet.
The CBI had registered an FIR on May 15, 2017 against alleged irregularities in the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) clearance to INX Media for receiving overseas funds to the tune of Rs 305 crore in 2007, when Chidambaram was the finance minister.
The Law Ministry had told the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) that there was "no legal infirmity" in the agency's request seeking prosecution sanction.
This view has now been communicated to the CBI, they said.
Chidambaram was not listed as an accused in the FIR registered by the agency.
The Prevention of Corruption Act mandates an investigating agency to get prior sanction from competent authority for prosecution of an accused public servant.
The agency had registered the FIR against Karti Chidambaram, his company Chess Management Services, Peter Mukerjea and Indrani Mukerjea, INX Media, Advantage Strategic Consulting Services and its Director Padma Vishwanathan.
Both the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate are investigating the foreign investment clearance granted to the Aircel-Maxis deal in 2006 and the INX Media in 2007.
The government has already given sanction to prosecute Chidambaram in the Aircel-Maxis case.
Chidambaram had denied allegations of any wrongdoing in clearing the foreign investment proposals of these companies.
According to the CBI, INX Media stated in its records that Rs 10 lakh was given to Advantage Strategic Consulting (P) Limited, a firm "indirectly" owned by Karti, for management consultancy charged towards FIPB notification and clarification.
The FIR also alleges that invoices of approximately Rs 3.5 crore were raised in favour of the INX group in the name of other companies in which Karti had substantial interests "directly or indirectly".
The allegations levelled by the CBI are based on the information given by "source", the FIR has claimed.
INX Media was seeking investment from Mauritius, an official had explained.
The investment was allowed by the FIPB board and the finance minister with the condition that only Rs 4.62 crore could be received, he had said after registration of the FIR. For investment in INX News Pvt Ltd a separate proposal was required, he had said.
The company allegedly violated the conditions set by the FIPB and received investment to the tune of 26 per cent in the capital of INX News which included foreign investment.
It allegedly generated more than Rs 305 crore of FDI in INX Media against the approved inflow of Rs 4.62 crore by issuing shares to foreign investors at a premium of more than Rs 800 per share, the FIR had said.
The violation prompted an Income Tax Department probe. INX Media claimed that the investment was done as per FIPB conditions, it had said. In order to wriggle out of the situation without any punitive action, INX Media entered into a criminal conspiracy with Karti whose father was the finance minister of the country, the agency has alleged.
Officials, by virtue of the influence exercised over them by Karti, not only ignored serious illegalities on the part of INX Media but also showed undue favours by abusing their official position and advised the company to file for a fresh clearance, the FIR had claimed.
Chidambaram had issued a strong rebuttal to the allegations after the FIR was filed and searches were carried out on May 16, 2017.
He had said the government was using the CBI and other agencies to target his son. FIPB approval was granted in "hundreds of cases", the senior Congress leader had said.
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CBI chargesheets 4 Chinese behind Rs 1,000 cr cyber crime racket; 111 shell companies unmasked
New Delhi (PTI): The CBI has filed a chargesheet against 17 people, including four Chinese nationals, and 58 companies for their alleged roles in a transnational cyber fraud network that siphoned off over Rs 1,000 crore through a sprawling web of shell entities and digital scams, officials said on Sunday.
After busting the racket in October, investigators unravelled a single, tightly coordinated syndicate that relied on an elaborate digital and financial infrastructure to run a range of frauds. These included misleading loan applications, fake investment schemes, Ponzi and multi-level marketing models, bogus part-time job offers and fraudulent online gaming platforms.
According to the probe agency's final report, the group layered the flow of illicit funds through 111 shell companies, routing about Rs 1,000 crore via mule accounts. One account received more than Rs 152 crore in a short span.
The shell companies, the CBI said, were incorporated using dummy directors, forged or misleading documents, fake addresses and false statements of business objectives.
"These shell entities were used to open bank accounts and merchant accounts with various payment gateways, enabling rapid layering and diversion of proceeds of crime," a CBI spokesperson said in a statement.
Investigators traced the origins of the scam to 2020, when the country was grappling with the COVID-19 pandemic. The shell companies were allegedly incorporated at the direction of four Chinese handlers -- Zou Yi, Huan Liu, Weijian Liu and Guanhua Wang.
Their Indian associates procured identity documents from unsuspecting individuals, which were then used to establish the network of shell companies and mule accounts to launder proceeds from the scams and obscure the money trail.
The investigation exposed communication links and operational control that, the agency said, nailed the role of Chinese masterminds running the fraud network from abroad.
"Significantly, a UPI ID linked to the bank accounts of two Indian accused was found to be active in a foreign location as late as August 2025, conclusively establishing continued foreign control and real-time operational oversight of the fraud infrastructure from outside India," the CBI statement said.
The probe found that the racketeers employed a highly layered, technology-driven modus operandi, using Google advertisements, bulk SMS campaigns, SIM-box-based messaging systems, cloud infrastructure, fintech platforms and multiple mule bank accounts.
"Each stage of the operation -- from luring victims to collection and movement of funds -- was deliberately structured to conceal the identities of the actual controllers and evade detection by law enforcement agencies," the spokesperson said.
The chargesheet names 17 individuals, including the four Chinese nationals, and 58 companies.
The investigation was launched on the inputs from the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) under the Ministry of Home Affairs, which flagged large-scale cheating of citizens through online investment and employment schemes, resulting in the arrest of three individuals in October.
"Though initially appearing as isolated complaints, detailed analysis by CBI revealed striking similarities in applications used, fund-flow patterns, payment gateways and digital footprints, pointing towards a common organised conspiracy," the agency said.
Following the October arrests, the CBI conducted searches at 27 locations across Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand and Haryana, seizing digital devices, documents and financial records that were later subjected to detailed forensic examination.
