CBI probes SP Tyagi’s 4 Noida-based firms, looks into passport details

On the second day of his interrogation in the AgustaWestland chopper deal, the CBI on Tuesday quizzed former IAF chief SP Tyagi on the four firms he and his wife set up after he retired.

Read more: Choppergate: CBI says Tyagi met accused firm’s top official in Feb 2005

Tyagi told the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) that he and his wife Vandana had established four companies -- Vanshi, Anurash, Shavan and Meghanshu -- in 2011 and 2012, informed sources said.

Tyagi, who retired in 2007, was questioned on Monday for 10 hours and for nine hours on Tuesday by the CBI. He will face the interrogators on Wednesday too.

All the companies, reportedly based in Noida, are reportedly classified as non-government companies and registered with the Registrar of Companies in Delhi and Noida, a source with knowledge of the interrogation said.

Read more: Christian Michel, alleged middleman in chopper deal ready for India visit

“The authorised share capital of these companies is estimated to be Rs2.4 crore. Its paid-up capital is Rs 10 crore. The companies are involved in several activities including legal, accounting, book-keeping and auditing, tax consultancy, market research and public opinion polling, business and management consultancy.

“We aren’t sure if the four companies have any link to the AugustaWestland case,” the source told IANS.

An official said the CBI was also tying to find out Tyagi’s international travel details -- including funding, places, time spent abroad.

His passport and other documents are with the CBI.

Tyagi has told the CBI that he travelled to Florence, Milan and Venice in Italy in 2008 and 2009 after his retirement.

The former Air Chief Marshal is being questioned on the Rs 3,600 crore AgustaWestland VVIP helicopter deal in which kickbacks were allegedly paid to Indian officials and politicians.

Tyagi accepted meeting Georgio Zapa, chief operating officer (COO) of Agusta’s Italy-based parent company Finmeccanica, in India on February 15, 2005.

“The CBI has seized Tyagi’s diaries and some documents which confirmed his meeting with Zapa. The meeting is still a mystery for us,” the source told IANS.

CBI sources said the agency has also called Gautam Khaitan, former board member of Aeromatrix, one of the suspect companies in the case, for questioning on Wednesday.

Tyagi’s cousins -- Sanjeev, Rajeev and Sandeep -- have been called for questioning later this week.

Tyagi has been accused in Italy and India of helping AgustaWestland win the chopper contract by reducing the flying ceiling of the helicopter from 6,000 metre to 4,500 metre (15,000 feet).

The CBI has registered a case against Tyagi along with 13 others including his cousins and European middlemen in March 2013.