评论
打印
A taciturn man in a black SUV started buying up tracts of arid agricultural land around this small town in the western Indian state of Rajasthan in 2009.
2009年，一名坐在黑色运动型多用途车(简称SUV)内的沉默男子开始在印度西部拉贾斯坦邦的小镇戈拉耶德(Kolayat)周边购买大片干旱贫瘠的农用土地。
He would sit in the parking lot outside the one-story concrete building that houses the land office and dole out cash for sellers from the back seat, according to real-estate brokers and a local government land official.
据房地产经纪人和当地政府一位土地官员透露，这名男子会把车停在土地办公室所在的一座一层混凝土建筑外的停车场里，从汽车后座向卖地的人派发现金。
The buyer represented by the man in the SUV, according to state land records, was Robert Vadra, a member of India's powerful Nehru-Gandhi political clan, whose Congress party leads the country today and has for much of its more-than-66-year post-colonial history.
拉贾斯坦邦的土地记录显示，坐在SUV里的男子所代表的买家是罗伯特・瓦德拉(Robert Vadra)。瓦德拉是印度势力强大的尼赫鲁-甘地(Nehru-Gandhi)政治家族成员，由这个家族掌控的国民大会党(Congress, 简称：国大党)目前是印度的执政党，印度独立66年来，大多数时间均由该党执政。
Soon after he began buying, the federal government announced plans to promote large-scale solar-energy production, a land-intensive project for which the area was well-suited. He continued buying land, and in 2011 the state, too, announced solar incentives. The value of the land Mr. Vadra bought soared sixfold within three years, a state record of land transactions shows.
瓦德拉出手买地后不久，联邦政府便宣布了推进大规模太阳能发电项目的计划，而太阳能发电正是非常适合当地的土地密集型项目。瓦德拉随后继续购买土地，到了2011年，拉贾斯坦邦政府也宣布了太阳能产业刺激计划。该邦一项土地交易记录显示，瓦德拉所购买的土地价值在三年之内飙升了五倍。
State officials say they are investigating whether there were any legal violations, such as exceeding land-purchase limits, in the investments by Mr. Vadra, who is the son-in-law of Congress party President Sonia Gandhi and brother-in-law of Rahul Gandhi, the leader of Congress's campaign in elections now under way.
拉贾斯坦邦官员表示，他们正在调查瓦德拉的投资有没有违反法律，比如是否超出了土地购买上限。瓦德拉是印度国大党主席索尼娅・甘地(Sonia Gandhi)的女婿，也是目前正在国大党竞选活动中担任领袖的拉胡尔・甘地(Rahul Gandhi)的妹夫。
A spokesman for Mr. Vadra said he is a private citizen who has been subjected to a campaign to malign him for political reasons. 'He has acquired and disposed of real estate in exercise of his rights and has obtained no favor or benefit from anyone,' the spokesman said. 'He has complied with all applicable provisions of law and has nothing further to say.'
瓦德拉的发言人称，瓦德拉只是一名普通公民，有人出于政治目的搞了一场针对他的诽谤活动。这名发言人表示：“瓦德拉在购买和处置房地产时行使的是他的合法权利，他并没有从任何人那里获得过照顾或好处。瓦德拉严格遵守了所有相关法律条款。他要说的就这么多。”
As Indians go to the polls in a weekslong parliamentary election, a powerful force is resentment by many over the ease with which politicians of most parties, bureaucrats and people close to them have prospered while the country struggles to meet the basic needs of the masses. A growing belief that the economic playing field is tilted too far in favor of those with political connections is helping drive a voter revolt against the ruling Congress party and fueling a surge in support for its main rival, the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, or BJP.
在印度为期一周的议会选举中，民愤形成了一股强大的影响力，大多数政党的政客、官僚以及他们身边的人都能轻松聚敛财富，而整个国家却还在为满足民众的基本需求苦苦挣扎，这种状况令许多人感到愤怒。越来越多的人认为，经济天平向那些有政治后台的人倾斜得太厉害，促使选民抛弃执政党国大党，转而支持其主要竞争对手、印度民族主义政党印度人民党(Bharatiya Janata Party, 简称：人民党)。
A Pew Research survey found that 83% of Indians consider corruption a 'very big' problem. The subject of corruption is repeatedly discussed on television talk shows and in political speeches. India has endured a stream of abuse-of-power scandals during Congress's 10 years in office, on matters ranging from jobs at the state railway to coal-mining licenses, helicopter purchasing and cellphone bandwidth.
皮尤研究中心(Pew Research)一项调查发现，83%的印度人认为腐败是一个“很严重的”问题。腐败是电视谈话节目和政治演讲中反复讨论的话题。在国大党执政的10年间，印度发生过一系列滥用职权的丑闻，涉及邦铁路职位、煤矿开采许可证、直升机采购和手机带宽等方方面面。
'Never in my lifetime have I seen the kind of cynicism that the current government in Delhi has generated among the middle classes,' said Jyotirmaya Sharma, a University of Hyderabad political scientist. 'It's phenomenal.'
海得拉巴大学(University of Hyderabad)的政治学家乔蒂马亚・夏尔马(Jyotirmaya Sharma)表示：“中产阶级对新德里本届政府的犬儒主义态度空前强烈，是我这辈子从未见到过的。这真是非常惊人。”
Congress party leaders have acknowledged the voter outcry and said they are doing their best to combat the problem.
国大党领导人已经注意到选民的强烈不满，他们表示正在尽最大努力解决腐败问题。
As India has urbanized, real-estate investing has become a route to quick wealth for some. People with connections or inside knowledge can position themselves to profit as property changes hands, including by helping speed approvals through a bureaucracy notoriously arbitrary and slow to act.
在已经走向城市化的印度，房地产投资成为一些人迅速敛财的捷径。有关系或知道内幕消息的人在房产交易中拥有更多获利优势，比方说，印度官僚机构虽有专横跋扈和行动迟缓的恶名，但这些人却能迅速通过审批。
'A section of India has become prosperous, unimaginably rich,' said Sudheendra Kulkarni, a onetime adviser to former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee of the BJP who runs a think tank and is critical of politicians across the spectrum.
曾担任过人民党前总理阿塔尔・瓦杰帕伊(Atal Bihari Vajpayee)顾问的苏丁德拉・库尔卡尼(Sudheendra Kulkarni)表示：“印度有一部分人已经变得非常富有，富有程度超出想象。”库尔卡尼目前运营一家智库，他对政界普遍持批评态度。
It is hard to know how much property people really own. The wealthy and politically connected in India sometimes hold large amounts in the names of others -- from servants to shell companies -- to avoid tax officials and corruption investigators, said R.H. Tahiliani, former chairman of the India chapter of Transparency International, the global anticorruption group.
我们很难了解这些人究竟拥有多少财富。全球反腐败组织透明国际(Transparency International)印度分会前主席R・H・塔希尔亚尼(R.H. Tahiliani)表示，为了逃税和躲避反腐败调查，印度有钱、有政治后台的人有时候会把巨额财富放在他人名下（比如侍从和壳公司等）。
No legal authority has accused Mr. Vadra of any wrongdoing. An investigative committee appointed by the state of Haryana's Congress-led government reviewed one transaction questioned by a land official in 2012 and cleared Mr. Vadra. The Congress party said that Mr. Vadra is a private citizen engaged in business and hasn't done anything wrong.
并没有法律机构指控瓦德拉有任何违法行为。由哈里亚纳邦(Haryana)国大党领导的政府任命的一个调查委员会2012年对某土地官员质疑的一项交易进行了审查，未发现瓦德拉有违法行为。国大党称，瓦德拉是从事房地产生意的普通公民，没有任何违法行为。
India Against Corruption, an activist group, has criticized some of Mr. Vadra's deals and accused him of enriching himself through transactions with a property developer. The group has called for a new probe of his business that it says would be more politically independent than the one begun in 2012.
活动人士团体印度反腐败组织(India Against Corruption)指责瓦德拉的一些交易涉嫌违规，并指控他通过与一家房地产开发商的交易为己大举敛财。该组织呼吁，应对瓦德拉的业务展开比2012年开始的调查更具政治独立性的新一轮调查。
The Wall Street Journal found that during the decade Mr. Vadra's in-laws have held sway in New Delhi, the 44-year-old with a high-school education and no experience in property development amassed a large real-estate portfolio. Based on a review of company filings, land records and interviews with property experts, the Journal calculated that through 2012, Mr. Vadra sold more than $12 million of property, and as of then he still held real estate valued at about $42 million. It isn't clear whether Mr. Vadra's companies have sold any more real estate since then because company filings for the past two years aren't available on government websites.
《华尔街日报》(The Wall Street Journal)发现，现年44岁，高中文化程度，且无房地产开发经验的瓦德拉在姻亲执掌新德里政权的十年间聚敛了大量房地产资产。《华尔街日报》根据见到的公司文件、土地记录和对房地产专家的采访计算出，截至2012年，瓦德拉出售了价值超过1,200万美元的房产，卖出这些房产之后，他仍拥有价值4,200万美元左右的房地产资产。我们不清楚瓦德拉的公司此后有没有出售更多的房地产，因为政府网站上没有公布近两年的公司文件。
Mr. Vadra married into India's political nobility in 1997 when he wed Priyanka Gandhi, a daughter of Sonia Gandhi and the late Rajiv Gandhi, prime minister from 1984 to 1989. Priyanka Gandhi's great-grandfather was independence leader Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first prime minister. Her grandmother, Indira Gandhi, served as prime minister for 15 years in two stints.
瓦德拉1997年与普里扬卡・甘地(Priyanka Gandhi)结婚，跻身印度政治显贵阶层。普里扬卡・甘地是索尼娅・甘地和1984年至1989年在位的已故前总理拉吉夫・甘地(Rajiv Gandhi)的女儿。普里扬卡・甘地的曾祖父是印度民族独立领袖、首任总理贾瓦哈拉尔・尼赫鲁(Jawaharlal Nehru)。她的祖母英迪拉・甘地(Indira Gandhi)先后担任过两届总理，在位时间达15年。
When Congress, with Sonia Gandhi at the helm, retook power from the BJP in 2004, Mr. Vadra was running a small business exporting inexpensive costume jewelry. In late 2007 he went into the real-estate business, forming a firm called Sky Light Hospitality Private Ltd. with less than $2,000, according to company filings at the Registrar of Companies of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs in New Delhi.
2004年，当索尼娅・甘地领导的国大党从人民党手中夺回政权时，瓦德拉还在经营一家出口廉价时尚珠宝的小公司。新德里企业事务部公司注册处(Registrar of Companies of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs)提供的公司文件显示，瓦德拉从2007年年底开始做房地产生意，组建了一家名为Sky Light Hospitality Private Ltd.、注册资本不到2,000美元的公司。
Early in 2008, Sky Light bought 3.5 acres of undeveloped land near a highway intersection in the New Delhi suburb of Gurgaon for $1.3 million, according to a sales document. Two months later, Mr. Vadra applied to the Congress-controlled state government for a license to convert the land to commercial use from agricultural. Preliminary permission was granted 18 days later, according to the license application and state approval. With that, the land became far more valuable.
一份销售文件显示，2008年初，Sky Light斥资130万美元在新德里市郊古尔冈(Gurgaon)靠近公路交叉口处购置了3.5英亩未开发的土地。两个月后，瓦德拉向由国大党控制的邦政府申请将这块土地由农用改为商用的许可证。与许可证申请和邦政府审批相关的资料显示，政府在18天后颁发了初步许可。有了这张许可证，这块地的身价大大提高。
Over the next four years, developer DLF Ltd. poured millions of dollars into Mr. Vadra's company, reported on its balance sheet as 'advances.' Then in 2012, DLF said it bought the Gurgaon property from Mr. Vadra's company for a total of $9.7 million, most of which it had advanced in the preceding years. It was more than seven times his reported purchase price.
在接下来的四年里，开发商DLF Ltd.为瓦德拉的公司注入了数百万美元，这些钱在该公司资产负债表中显示为“预付款”。接下来，DLF 2012年称其以970万美元的总价从瓦德拉的公司购买了古尔冈地产，其中多数款项DLF已在之前几年预付。该售价比瓦德拉公布的买价高出六倍以上。
A senior official at the Haryana state land office, Ashok Khemka, looked into the deal and concluded Mr. Vadra's company 'did not own the resources to pay' for the land when purchasing it in 2008. Suspecting irregularities, he moved to cancel the deal.
哈里亚纳邦土地办公室高级官员阿肖像克・赫姆卡(Ashok Khemka)对此项交易进行过调查，并得出结论称，瓦德拉的公司2008年买地时“没有足够的资源来支付”土地款项。因怀疑交易存在违规，他试图取消此项交易。
The state's chief minister, a Congress party politician, ordered Mr. Khemka transferred to a position in a state-run agricultural company. The chief minister and his staff didn't respond to requests for comment. Mr. Khemka, a whistleblower in a number of past allegations of corruption, said he has been transferred numerous times in his 22-year civil-service career to foil his gadfly efforts.
属于国大党阵营的哈里亚纳邦邦长下令将赫姆卡调至一家国营农业公司任职。这位邦长和他手下的官员未回应置评要求。曾揭发过多起腐败案的赫姆卡表示，在他22年的公务员生涯中，他曾因揭黑而被调动过许多次。
According to government filings, Sky Light Hospitality said it paid for the land in 2008 with a loan from state-owned Corporation Bank. In 2012, the bank's then-chairman was quoted by the Times of India as saying there 'was no such transaction with us as per our records so far.' That official has left the bank and couldn't be reached; the new bank chairman declined to comment.
政府文件显示，Sky Light Hospitality称，2008年该公司是用从国有银行Corporation Bank获得的贷款购买土地的。但2012年《印度时报》(Times of India)援引该银行当时的董事长的话称，“根据我们迄今为止的记录，该公司与我行并无这类信贷往来”。这名董事长已经离开该银行，无法与他取得联系；而新任董事长则拒绝置评。
In a report to the state last year, Mr. Khemka wrote that the 2008 sale of the land to Mr. Vadra's company 'was a completely sham transaction.' The state-appointed investigative committee looked at the deal and concluded Mr. Vadra did nothing wrong. Congress's political opponents expressed skepticism about the result on the grounds that committee members were state employees subject to transfer or discipline.
赫姆卡去年在向该邦提交的报告中写道，2008年向瓦德拉的公司出售土地“纯属虚假交易”。由该邦任命的调查委员会审查了此项交易，并得出结论称，瓦德拉没有任何不当行为。但国大党的政治对手们对调查结果表示怀疑，因为委员会成员是该邦一些受调动或纪律制约的公务员。
Mr. Vadra's Sky Light Hospitality did other deals in New Delhi and the nearby states of Haryana and Rajasthan. In 2008-09, it paid $5.3 million for a 50% interest in a hotel being built by DLF in New Delhi, a hotel valued at $33 million in 2012, according to a DLF calculation that year.
瓦德拉的Sky Light Hospitality在新德里及附近的哈里亚纳邦和拉贾斯坦邦还进行过其他一些交易。在2008到2009年期间，Sky Light Hospitality斥资530万美元，购得DLF正在新德里营建的一座酒店50%的权益，而DLF 在2012年估计，当年该酒店价值为3,300万美元。
Another company controlled by Mr. Vadra, Sky Light Realty, acquired a penthouse apartment -- estimated by brokers to now be worth $5 million -- in a complex DLF built in Gurgaon called the Aralias.
瓦德拉掌控的另一家公司Sky Light Realty在DLF在古尔冈兴建的综合建筑群Aralias内购买了一套顶层公寓（经纪人估计，这套公寓现在价值500万美元）。
That same Vadra company reported in its government filings for fiscal 2009 and 2010 that it bought seven apartments in a luxury complex built by DLF for $870,000.
也正是这家公司在向政府提交的文件中披露，2009财年和2010财年，该公司以87万美元在DLF兴建的一个豪华综合建筑群内购买了七套公寓。
They were worth close to $6 million at the time, real-estate brokers said. India Against Corruption, a grass-roots movement that has spawned an anticorruption political party called the Aam Admi Party, alleged that the transactions amounted to a ploy for DLF to give the Gandhi family property and money to curry favor. Congress party officials have repeatedly denied the allegation. Rahul Gandhi didn't respond to requests for comment, and a person in his office said he was too busy campaigning to respond.
房地产经纪人称，这些公寓当时价值接近600万美元。印度反腐败组织（该组织作为一项草根运动推动了反腐败政党平民党(Aam Admi Party)的建立）称，这些交易是DLF的一种策略，旨在用房地产和金钱来贿赂甘地家族。国大党官员已经多次否认这些指控。拉胡尔・甘地未回应置评要求，他办公室的一名官员表示，拉胡尔・甘地忙于竞选，无暇回复。
DLF said Mr. Vadra's group actually paid much more than $870,000 -- it said the actual price was about $166 a square foot, which would add up to about $7 million. Today, the seven apartments are worth more than $16 million, real-estate brokers said.
DLF称，瓦德拉的集团公司实际支付金额远高于87万美元――该公司称，实际价格是每平方英尺166美元左右，总价约合700万美元。房地产经纪人称，如今这七套公寓的价值超过1,600万美元。
Asked for comment, DLF cited a response it made to the anticorruption group, which said in part: 'The business relationship of DLF with Mr. Robert Vadra or his companies has been in his capacity as an individual entrepreneur, on a completely transparent and at an arm's length basis. Our business relationship has been conducted to the highest standards of ethics and transparency.'
在回应置评要求时，DLF援引了该公司对印度反腐败组织的回复，其中部分内容是：“瓦德拉是作为个人企业家带领公司与DLF展开商业往来的，往来建立在完全透明和独立公平的基础之上。我们的商业往来秉持最高的道德和透明度标准。”
Mr. Vadra's land purchases in Rajasthan state -- some of which brokers say were done through the man in the black SUV -- began in 2009, at a time when Congress controlled the state's government. Both the state and India's federal governments had just begun discussing policies to promote solar energy, which requires large tracts of land for solar-panel arrays, a senior official involved in developing the Rajasthan policy said.
瓦德拉是从2009年国大党掌控拉贾斯坦邦政府时开始在该邦置地的。经纪人称，其中有一部分土地是通过坐在黑色SUV里的那名男子购买的。一名参与制定拉贾斯坦邦太阳能产业政策的高级官员表示，该邦及印度联邦政府当时都是刚开始讨论促进太阳能产业发展的政策，而太阳能发电需要有大片土地来铺设太阳能面板。
From 2009 to 2012, Mr. Vadra's companies bought about 2,000 acres in Rajasthan for about $1 million, according to a Journal review of land-office records compiled by the Kolayat land office in Rajasthan state. Much of this property was in the state's northwestern corridor, long regarded by energy experts as a good place for solar-power arrays because of its ample sunshine and relatively cheap land.
根据《华尔街日报》见到的一份由拉贾斯坦邦戈拉耶德(Kolayat)土地办公室编制的土地办记录，从2009年到2012年，瓦德拉的公司斥资约100万美元，在拉贾斯坦邦购买了2,000英亩左右的土地。其中许多土地位于拉贾斯坦邦西北走廊，由于该地区阳光充足，地价也相对便宜，因此长期以来一直被能源专家视为铺设太阳能面板的理想区域。
In one purchase registered in the land-office books, Mr. Vadra bought 94 acres for $70,000 in January of 2010.
土地办公室文件中一项置地交易注册记录显示，瓦德拉2010年1月以7万美元购买了94英亩土地。
A week later, the federal government unveiled plans to offer extensive tax incentives for solar-power investment. The state followed with more incentives the next year.
一周后，联邦政府出台了为太阳能行业投资提供全面税收优惠的计划。该邦次年又跟进出台了更多优惠措施。
'Once our area became a solar-power center, we discovered Mr. Vadra had bought up all of our land cheaply from the farmers,' said Arjun Ram Meghwal, a member of parliament from the rival BJP.
来自反对党人民党的议会成员阿尔琼・梅瓦尔(Arjun Ram Meghwal)表示：“我们这个地区一变成太阳能发电中心，我们才发现瓦德拉已经从农民手中买光了这里土地。”
As solar firms moved in, the land's value jumped. A property sale by Mr. Vadra's Sky Light Hospitality in January 2012 included most of the 94-acre plot bought in 2010. The sale priced it at 10 times the per-acre purchase price, the Kolayat land office summary of his transactions shows.
随着太阳能发电公司的进驻，当地土地价值出现攀升。瓦德拉麾下的Sky Light Hospitality 2012年1月份有一笔地产出售交易，其中包括他2010年购置的94英亩地块中的大部分。戈拉耶德土地办公室的交易概要显示，每英亩土地售价相当于购买价格的10倍。
In all, Mr. Vadra has sold more than 700 Rajasthan acres, about a third of his holdings in the state, for $2.7 million, according to the summary. That is nearly three times his purchase price for his entire Rajasthan holding, of which his firms still own about 1,200 acres. Their value is more than $4 million, according to a local land official and local brokers.
这份概要显示，瓦德拉总共出售了逾700英亩拉贾斯坦邦土地，相当于他所持该邦土地面积的三分之一左右，卖地所得高达270万美元，接近他手中拉贾斯坦邦所有土地买价的三倍。瓦德拉的公司在拉贾斯坦邦仍拥有1,200英亩左右的土地，当地土地部门一名官员和经纪人称，这些土地的价值超过400万美元。
Land records show Mr. Vadra was represented locally by Mahesh Nagar, who has also represented the Congress party's Mr. Gandhi on at least one occasion.
土地记录显示，瓦德拉在当地的代理人是马赫什・纳加尔(Mahesh Nagar)，纳加尔还为国大党的拉胡尔・甘地至少做过一次代理人。
Mr. Nagar, who is the brother of a Congress party politician, said he didn't personally know either Mr. Vadra or Mr. Gandhi. Interviewed in his office decorated with pictures of Mr. Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Mr. Nagar said he had been approached by a 'facilitator' who gave him authority letters to get lands registered for Messrs. Vadra and Gandhi.
纳加尔是一名国大党政治家的兄弟，他表示，他个人并不认识瓦德拉或拉胡尔・甘地。纳加尔在他那间挂着拉胡尔・甘地、索尼娅・甘地和普里扬卡・甘地・瓦德拉画像的办公室里接受采访时表示，一名“促成此事的人”曾与他接触，给了他代瓦德拉和拉胡尔・甘地办理土地注册的授
