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Agusta case: ED writes to MoD, financial agencies

NEW DELHI: In an attempt to crack suspects'' code names and the alleged kickbacks paid in the VVIP choppers deal, the Enforcement Directorate has sought information from the Defence Ministry, Income Tax department and FIU to share details about officials and other individuals figuring in the case.

Agusta case: ED writes to MoD, financial agencies

File photo of AW101 helicopter



New Delhi, May 5

In an attempt to crack suspects' code names and the alleged kickbacks paid in the VVIP choppers deal, the Enforcement Directorate has sought information from the Defence Ministry, Income Tax department and FIU to share details about officials and other individuals figuring in the case.

Officials said the agency has sought property details on 10 serving and retired officials of the Ministry of Defence and the Indian Air Force who had handled the procurement process of the AgustaWestland choppers at some point of their service.

It has also sought details from the IT department and the Financial Intelligence Unit to provide details of personal finances, transactions and investments made by some people suspected to have some connection to the case.

They said the references have been made in the light of a hand-written note by the alleged middlemen in the case, a document also brought on record by a Milan court that had sentenced Italian defence and aerospace major Finmeccanica's former chief Giuseppe Orsi and the former CEO of the firm Bruno Spagnolini for corruption in the sale of a dozen AgustaWestland helicopters to India for VVIP purposes.

Sources indicate ED investigators have made some "analysis" of the probable identity of these code names and hence want to investigate the flow of funds and the "proceeds of crime" and possible kickbacks made in the procurement of these choppers.

With the help of data from the tax department and FIU, some evidence can be established, they said.

ED has also sought details of wealth of some officials in the Defence Ministry.

"This service-maintained data will be matched with current data being provided by the IT and FIU," they said adding some officials of the MoD are in top positions now.

Widening its probe in the Rs 3,600 crore VVIP chopper deal, the ED has also begun a trail of "cash" that is suspected to have been paid as alleged kickbacks for the purchase of these helicopters from UK-based AgustaWestland.

The financial probe agency has set the ball rolling with the second round of questioning of witnesses and accused in connection with the scam. 

Ex IAF chief Tyagi questioned

Former IAF chief SP Tyagi was questioned by the ED on Thursday.

Tyagi arrived at the zonal office of the agency here just before 11 am and agency sources said he will be questioned and his statement recorded under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The ex-IAF chief was questioned in the same case by CBI for the last three days.This is the first time that the ex-Chief of Staff of the Indian Air Force has been summoned by the Enforcement Directorate.

Agency sources had earlier indicated that Tyagi's questioning was necessary in the light of a recent judgement of a Milan (Italy) court which had sentenced Italian defence and aerospace major Finmeccanica's former chief Giuseppe Orsi and the former CEO of the firm Bruno Spagnolini on corruption charges in the sale of a dozen AgustaWestland helicopters to India for VVIP purposes. 

CBI quizzes former IAF vice-chief, Khaitan

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) began questioning former Air Vice-Marshal NV Tyagi and advocate and former board member of Aeromatrix Gautam Khaitan on Thursday in connection with the controversial Rs 3,600 crore AgustaWestland chopper deal.

The CBI on Wednesday grilled former IAF Chief S.P. Tyagi for the third consecutive day, and also questioned Khaitan.

SP Tyagi allegedly admitted to having financial interest in three companies: Banshi, Anuras and Shavan.

CBI sources said they were looking into links among Tyagi, his brothers, Khaitan and company and middleman, through whom the bribe was routed to India.

The CBI is also looking into Tyagi's international visits after his retirement and his bank accounts and assets.

Khaitan claimed that during questioning he admitted to having set up IDS Tunisia, which sources say is a subsidiary of IDS India, one of the companies through which the alleged bribe was routed by AgustaWestland middlemen to other countries.

Khaitan was confronted with records of the companies that he allegedly had set-up before 2010.

Meanwhile, the CBI conducted raids at Tyagi’s Gurgaon residence on Wednesday.

CBI sleuths also conducted searches in 12 places in Delhi, Gurgaon and Chandigarh in connection with the alleged scam.

Satish Bagrodia, the brother of former union minister Santosh Bagrodia, has also been named in the FIR.

The CBI team had registered a preliminary enquiry on the basis of some important documents that it had obtained from Italian probe agencies in connection with the alleged payment of kickbacks by AgustaWestland to bag the chopper deal. A complete case would be registered once sufficient evidence is procured.

The Defence Ministry had earlier threatened to cancel the chopper deal and sought a CBI probe after the CEO of AgustaWestland's parent company, Finmeccanica, Giuseppe Orsi, was arrested in Italy for his role in paying bribes.

The CBI had registered a case against Tyagi along with 13 others including his cousins and European middlemen.

Tyagi's name cropped at various points in the said judgement.

The allegation against the former Air chief is that he allegedly reduced the height of the VVIP helicopters so that AgustaWestland could be included in the bids.

He took over as the Indian Air Force chief on December 31, 2005, and retired from service in 2007.

The ED had registered a PMLA case in this regard in 2014 and named 21 people including Tyagi in its money laundering FIR.

It had also arrested Khaitan and had also filed a charge sheet last year.

The ED had earlier submitted that Khaitan was on the board of Chandigarh-based company Aeromatrix which was allegedly a front firm for the financial dealings in the chopper deal.

Tyagi, however, has denied any wrongdoing on his part.

On January 1, 2014, India cancelled the contract with Finmeccanica's British subsidiary AgustaWestland for supplying 12 AW101 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 agency has also issued Letters Rogatory (judicial requests) to ten countries in this case. — Agencies

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