VVIP Chopper case: Delhi court sends defence agent to 4-day ED custody
Rajeev Saxena, who turned approver in the VVIP choppers scam, has disclosed that kickbacks in the Rs 3,600 crore AgustaWestland deal were transferred to several entities and persons having direct links with alleged defence agent Sushen Mohan Gupta, the ED told a Delhi court on Tuesday.
Special Judge Arvind Kumar sent Gupta to four days in the custody of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) which had sought his 14-day custodial interrogation.
Gupta (44) was arrested by the agency last night under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
ED's Special Public Prosecutors D P Singh and N K Matta, told the court that Gupta's role in the case came to light on the basis of disclosures made by Saxena, who has turned approver in the case. He was deported here from the UAE and arrested by the ED.
"During the course of investigation, Saxena, in his statements stated that Interstellar Technologies, a company which received the AgustaWestland kickbacks, was controlled by accused Gautam Khaitan and Gupta," the agency claimed.
It said Gupta's custodial interrogation was required as he has given evasive answers and there was evidence directly linking him to the alleged transactions in the deal.
"He is not cooperating with the investigation. His custodial interrogation is required to unearth how kickbacks were routed and laundered, the companies involved in facilitating the money laundering, the places where the said tainted money was placed, layered and integrated into the system.
"He needs to be confronted with other accused persons and other evidence collected during investigation to unearth the money trail and offence of money laundering," ED said.
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British middleman Christian Michel were earlier arrested by the ED in the case.[/caption]
Senior advocates P V Kapoor and Siddharth Aggarwal, appearing for Gupta, told the court that the ED's demand for custodial remand was deprivation of a person's liberty and denied the allegations that his answers have been evasive.
The counsel opposed the plea for custodial interrogation claiming that Gupta has cooperated in the investigation and was willing to do the same in future.
"There has been no past instances of tampering of evidence by him. What are they going to ask in custody that they have not yet asked," Kapoor said.
Sources close to Gupta's family denied the allegations and said, "The allegations that have been levelled against him are completely baseless. He has not had any dealings with AgustaWestland in any capacity and is being unnecessarily targeted."
ED alleged that in connivance with Khaitan, a lawyer, the proceeds of crime after being received in the accounts of Interstellar were further transferred by Gupta through various companies in different countries.
The agency claimed that Saxena has also produced two diaries, some loose sheets and other documents and a pen drive, which as per him pertained to accused Gupta and contain information that related to laundering of kickbacks in AgustaWestland scam.
"Gupta during the period when kickbacks were received in the accounts of Interstellar through IDS Tunisia had direct dealing with Interstellar and kickbacks from Agusta had been transferred to several entities/ persons having direct links with him," it claimed.
The agency further said the conduct of the accused has been non-cooperative and his replies were contrary to the records.
Alleged British middleman Christian Michel James was earlier arrested by the ED in the case and is currently lodged in jail under judicial custody.
On January 1, 2014, India scrapped the contract with Finmeccanica's British subsidiary AgustaWestland for supplying 12 AW-101 VVIP choppers to the Indian Air Force (IAF) over alleged breach of contractual obligations and charges of paying kickbacks to the tune of Rs 423 crore by it for securing the deal.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the ED have filed multiple charge sheets in the case and named former IAF chief S P Tyagi and his family members as accused besides others. PTI
