Just when it seemed that former Union Minister, P Chidambaram was trying to recover from the controversial second affidavit in the Ishrat Jahan case, the revelation of his son Karti Chidambaram's active involvement in the alleged money laundering scam relating to Sequoia Capital has grabbed the glare of national and regional media. The recent raid in Sequoia Capital office in Bengaluru by Enforcement Directorate (ED) on April 16 has revealed that Sequoia paid Rs 32.9 crores for shares, although only two years ago the net worth was only three crores. Incidentally this isn't the first time Karti Chidambaram is under the scanner. Be it the infamous 2G scam or Aircel-Maxis deal, the Chidambaram family has come under serious scrutiny. The role of P Chidambaram's wife Nalini Chidambaram who is a lawyer is not above suspicion in the Saradha scam. The present Sequoia raid is a huge jolt to Karti Chidambaram and is certainly not going to bolster political ambitions of P. Chidambaram and his family.

Singapore based Sequoia Capital is the largest venture capital of India. The Enforcement Directorate Officials raided the Bengaluru office of the firm for flouting FDI norms. Sequoia Capital on the other hand has stated that the raid was a part of an ongoing investigation of Vasan group, where Sequoia Capital is also an investor along with other firms. As far as several sources and speculations are concerned, the documents unearthed during the raid clearly points out that Sequoia was roped in to enable swift and intentional misuse of FDI policy.  In a recently released statement the Sequoia Capital India affirmed, "Sequoia Capital India has fully supported the regulatory investigation, has adopted a policy of complete transparency and full compliance with that investigation, and continues to dutifully respond to all inquiries received to date. During the course of this investigation, the Sequoia Capital India team has met the ED official’s multiple times and has answered every query placed before us. We adopted the same approach during the ED’s visit to our offices. Contrary to media reports, Sequoia Capital India has absolutely no association with companies like Aircel or Maxis. Our only connection to the ED visit is that Sequoia Capital India is a minority investor in Vasan, which is one out of the 100-plus investments made in India over the last 10 years."

This case of money laundering is evident from the shares of Advantage Strategic Consultant Services. Especially the windfall on the shares of Vasan Health Care is prominent. Even the auditors Suresh and Company accepted that massive premium was a reality in this case. Therefore, ED has rightly sent letters to Singapore authorities for details of the company, and to 12 countries in which Advantage Singapore has dealings, including France, UK, and South Africa.

Both Westbridge and Sequoia bought shares of Vasan and that too at very high premium from Advantage Strategic Consulting. Interestingly, both these companies paid Rs 7,500 per share. As far as Westbridge is concerned, it was founded by Balaraj, Sumeer Chaddha, Sandeep Singhal and SK Jain, summing up $138 million in 2000. Westbridge stayed with Sequoia until early 2011 when most investments to Vasan were made swiftly. Going in to rigorous details it can be said Sequoia invested Rs 212 crore in Vasan in between February 4, 2009 and November 1, 2010. By the end of 2010, WestBridge purchased 33,600 shares of Vasan for Rs 25.5 crore while Sequoia bought 85,733 Vasan Healthcare shares for Rs 64.30 crore. No doubt, the huge transaction profited Vasan Healthcare the most.  At the time of valuation certificate of equity, shares of Vasan Healthcare were at Rs 201.22 per share. Interestingly, on February 23, 2011 Balaraj and three other directors left Sequoia and formed WestBridge Capital Partners LLC was set up. As usual, Karti Chidambaram claims he is no part to any of these transactions and says that he is neither an owner nor a stakeholder to the shares.

Although Karti Chidambaram argues that he doesn't have any contact with, it has been alleged that Karti Chidambaram indirectly owns Advantage Strategic Consulting Services. This company has got its dealings abroad including France, UK and South Africa. As per the investigation, each of the owners in Advantage Strategic Consulting Services have bequeathed their shares to Aditi Nalini Chidambaram, Karti Chidambaram's daughter.  And obviously, Karti Chidambaram is the sole executor of all four wills as mentioned by four of those owners. ED official found drafts of those four wills from the laptop of Bhaskar Raman, who is known to be a close aide of Karti Chidambaram.

Thus it seems clear that Karti Chidambaram has two thirds of Advantage Strategic Consultant Services through his holding company Ausbridge. The intentional use of 'benami' or proxy holders of accounts completely pinpoints the fact that Karti Chidambaram flouted the FDI rules for personal purpose and utilized Sequoia Capital on this purpose.  This will definitely malign the Chidambaram family, who are already facing the heat of political opposition in both national and regional political domain. This whole incident is also embarrassing for P. Chidambaram who has been struggling to revive his political career after witnessing all time low since the defeat of Indian National Congress in 2014 Lok Sabha Elections