Money laundering probe: Gandhis summoned for questioning

India's financial crime-fighting agency wants to question the two most senior members of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty, who lead the main opposition Congress party, as it investigates a complaint of money laundering, the party said yesterday.

The summons by the enforcement directorate is linked to a nine-year old complaint by a lawmaker of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) against Congress President Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul, the party said.

The lawmaker, Subramanian Swamy, had accused the Gandhis of forming a shell company and illegally gaining control of properties worth $300 million.

The assets in question had belonged to a firm that published the National Herald newspaper, founded in 1937 by India's first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, who was Rahul Gandhi's great grandfather. The case is regarding allegations of cheating, conspiracy, and criminal breach of trust in the acquisition of the Associated Journals Limited (AJL), which ran the National Herald newspaper, by Young Indian Pvt Ltd.