ED questions CEO of firm associated with VVIP chopper scam

NEW DELHI: A day after Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested lawyer and businessman Gautam Khaitan in connection with the multi-crore VVIP chopper deal scam, the CEO of a company associated with the scam was questioned by the agency.
Aeromatrix CEO Praveen Bakshi was grilled by the agency for over two hours in connection with its probe under the anti-money laundering Act. Aeromatrix was one of the four companies through which kickbacks of euros 21 million was sent to India.Khaitan was on the board of directors of the company.
Agency officials, sources said, recorded Bakshi's statement under the criminal provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. Sources said Bakshi's questioning was important as it is suspected that illegal bribe money was purportedly sent to Aeromatrix from abroad in the garb of engineering contracts under the VVIP chopper deal.
They said Bakshi was questioned about the structuring of the company, his relations with alleged Italian middlemen Guido Hashcke and Carlo Gerosa and the engineering contracts with Mauritius-based firms.
ED, sources said, is in possession of documents which show Bakshi's name in purported conversations recorded by Italian investigators which formed the basis of his questioning. Bakshi, who has earlier denied any wrongdoing in this deal, was questioned by CBI last year.
The report prepared and submitted by Italian investigators had stated that Hashcke and Gerosa allegedly received commission worth crores of rupees from Finmeccanica and AgustaWestland for swinging the VVIP helicopter deal in favour of the firm.
Investigators, quoting the Italian prosecution report, suspect a substantial portion of the alleged bribe money was allegedly routed to Indian companies -- IDS Infotech and Aeromatrix -- camouflaged as payments for some engineering contracts from Tunisia and Mauritius.