Rana Kapoor says 'forced to buy MF Husain painting from Priyanka Gandhi'; Congress calls him 'crook' and 'fraudster'

Lashing out at Rana Kapoor, the party called him a “crook” and a “fraudster” and questioned whether the statement by such a person who is struggling for release from jail has any credibility.

Congress further said Kapoor must have given the statement under pressure.

“This is absolutely astonishing and…it is almost disgusting that a 2010 transaction….a person who is behind bars for years…whose 20-30 bail applications have been rejected, who is called a crook and a fraudster, makes allegations about dead people and the government is jumping with joy only because it suits their political angle. They want to keep the pot boiling for 2022 regarding a transaction of 2010 when neither Murli Deora is here to deny it nor Ahmed Patel sadly is here to deny it,” Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi told reporters, Indian Express reported.

Singhvi went on to say that the government was trying to scare Congress.

“They are trying to create a fear psychosis to scare people, to do political vendetta. They should know better than that. At least spare the dead, at least don’t defame people like Deora and Patel so casually,” Singhvi said.

“First and foremost…by your strategic, planned leaks to godi media…do you think the credibility of someone behind the bars as one of the  master fraudsters of India supposedly…said by the government, not by us…he gains credibility and truth. What is the object of this? Is it the result of your pressure tactics and coercion on a person behind bars eager to get his freedom to record statements against political opponents and to keep a 12-year-old thing boiling just for the convenience of politics?” he asked.

“You took no action till you are being crushed in jail by coercive methods by this government to come up with this statement in this manner. We all know the credibility of the ED and more than that the credibility of the person accused in this case who is supposed to have made this statement,” Singhvi said.

"Rana Kapur 'cleverly accused people who are not alive,'" NDTV quoted as saying a Congress leader without revealing their name.

"What can you expect from a person accused in a Rs 5000 crore scam? He has cleverly accused people who are not alive," said a Congress leader in response to the allegations.

Kapoor's allegations were mentioned in the charge sheet filed by the Enforcement Directorate in a special court here.

Kapoor has told the central anti-money laundering agency that he was told by the then petroleum minister Murli Deora that refusing the same would prevent him from building a relationship with the Gandhi family and also prevent him from getting the Padma Bhushan award.

The statements of Rana Kapoor are part of the second supplementary charge sheet filed in the special court here recently against him and his family, in a money laundering case.

Kapoor had paid a cheque of Rs. 2 crores, the sales proceeds of which were utilised for the medical treatment of Sonia Gandhi in New York, the charge sheet stated.

Kapoor claimed that Milind Deora, son of the late Murli Deora and former Congress MP, had later conveyed to him this information confidentially.

In the charge sheet, he further stated that later, in the year 2010, Murli Deora forced him to meet for a vegetarian dinner (Marwari dinner) at his Lodhi Estate Bungalow in New Delhi.

He was Petroleum Minister at that time and had been allotted this bungalow in that capacity, Kapoor said, as per the charge sheet.

During that meeting, the late Murli Deora told him that any further delay in purchasing the painting could have adverse repercussions on Yes Bank and it could jeopardise his relationship with the Deora family.

He also told the ED that Ahmed Patel, a close aide of Sonia Gandhi, had told him that by acting in support of the Gandhi family at the opportune time he had done a good deed for the family and his act would be duly considered for the 'Padma Bhushan' award.

Kapoor said he acted under this "threat" and against the wishes of his family.

"Since we are not high-value Art Collectors, I could not afford to invite any form of enmity with the two powerful families involved and thus I had to hesitatingly proceed given the looming and overhanging threat involved," he told ED.

Kapoor said the deal was closed at Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's office.

"Milind Deora had actively coordinated this final closing meeting. I wish to state that for this deal, I had made a payment of Rs 2 crore through a cheque of my personal account in HSBC Bank," he said.

The Enforcement Directorate has accused Rana Kapoor and Dewan Housing Finance Limited (DHFL) promoters Kapil and Dheeraj Wadhawan of siphoning off funds worth Rs 5,050 crores through tainted transactions.

Kapoor is currently in judicial custody after he was arrested after charges of alleged financial irregularities and mismanagement in the operations of the private bank surfaced.

The Wadhwans, too, are in jail custody after their arrest in another case.