AgustaWestland probe: Husband-wife's arrest leads ED on to politicians' money trail
Shivani was arrested from a five-star hotel in Chennai on Monday and brought to Delhi for custodial interrogation.
In Short
- Shivani was arrested from a five-star hotel in Chennai on Monday.
- Her husband is said to be close to several Indian politicians.
- They might have helped route money into India.
Enforcement directorate on Monday arrested the director of two Dubai-based firms Shivani Saxena for money laundering in the AgustaWestland case.
Shivani today admitted that her company had financial transactions with Delhi lawyer Gautam Khaitan, who was arrested in 2014 for his alleged involvement in money laundering in the Chopper scam. But she claims that there was no transactions made on personal grounds.
According to the agency, Shivani's interrogation will help track the money trail and also identify politicians linked to the case.
ED sources said during her custodial interrogation, Shivani revealed that UHY Saxena and M/S Matrix Holdings Ltd, both Dubai-based companies which were run by her along with her chartered accountant husband Rajeev Saxena, received funds in their accounts from M/S Interstellar Technologies Ltd, Mauritius.
Shivani said UHY is a chartered accountant firm and it is their business to deal with money transactions, however, she is not aware of any proceeds of the crime.
The agency's case is that Shivani and Rajeev have remitted/transferred huge amount of money from their companies in Dubai to various companies that they own in India. They had invested the money in real estate projects and both have ownership in a property at a posh locality in Mumbai.
The couple is said to have close links with various Indian political leaders. Thus, they may have helped route the money into India for distribution to those involved in the murky deal. It is alleged the kickbacks for bagging the deal were distributed among some defence officials, bureaucrats and politicians.
Shivani was arrested from a five-star hotel in Chennai on Monday and brought to Delhi for custodial interrogation. ED officials had issued a lookout circular for her as both Shivani and Rajiv did not present themselves on recent ED summons.
Her mobile phone was seized and she was remanded to four-day ED custody. According to ED officials, Rajeev is said to be close to several Indian politicians and has been evasive in probe.
Shivani's lawyer Mohit Mathur, however, said, "She visited India at least 15 times in the last three-and-half years due to her father's illness. She was questioned several times before her arrest as well". Mathur said that his client had not received any proceeds of crime.
According to ED investigations, Gautam Khaitan had opened various companies in Dubai. Khaitan was instrumental in running M/S Interstellar Technologies Ltd from Mauritius and has allegedly played a major role in routing the kickback money.
As per ED's probe in the chopper deal, M/S AgustaWestland laundered 20.74 million Euros to M/S IDS Sarl Tunisia. Further 12.4 million Euros were transferred from M/S IDS Sarl, Tunisia to M/S Interstellar Technologies Ltd, Mauritius. M/S UHY Saxena, Dubai and M/S Matrix Holdings Ltd, Dubai was also used for laundering the proceeds of crime from M/S Interstellar Technologies Ltd, Mauritius. Shivani will be produced in Delhi Court on Friday.
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