Latest


ED arrests Gautam Khaitan in AgustaWestland case

  •   Sat, Jan 26 2019 03:28:12 PM

New Delhi, Jan 26 (IANS): The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has arrested Gautam Khaitan, a co-accused in the case relating to the AgustaWestland VVIP chopper deal, on charges of money laundering, agency officials said on Saturday.

A lawyer by profession, Khaitan, was arrested late on Friday and would be produced before a special court later on Saturday.

The arrest comes a week after the Income Tax Department raided Khaitan's offices and various other properties in Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR).

It is learned that the financial probe agency has gathered evidence against the lawyer for allegedly receiving kickbacks in other defence deals, besides AgustaWestland, during the tenure of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance.

The ED said that the lawyer had been "controlling" the modus operandi and was responsible for routing the money, misusing his connections and clients, including the ones inherited from his father, to launder the money with the use of a variety of accounts in Dubai, Mauritius, Singapore, Tunisia, Switzerland, the UK and India.

Agency officials said the accounts included those of his undisclosed shell companies outside India.

An informed source told IANS that the ED has also found a Zambia connection of Khaitan. He is known to be close to Henry Banda, one of the three sons of former President Rupiah Banda, who is accused of abusing his authority while head of state between 2008 and 2011.

Dingani Banda received 250,000 euros from IDS Tunisia, a company that laundered money in the AgustaWestland scam, the source added.

Khaitan apparently helped set up trust and companies for Henry Banda in Seychelles to buy a property in Kenya.

The ED as well as the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has named Khaitan in their separate charge sheets in the Rs 3,600-crore VVIP chopper deal case.

Khaitan was earlier arrested in September 2014 for his alleged involvement in the AgustaWestland deal.

He got bail in January 2015 and re-arrested along with Sanjeev Tyagi, another accused in the case, on December 9, 2016, by the CBI. He later secured bail.

The CBI chargesheet has described Khaitan as the brain behind the AgustaWestland deal.
  

Top Stories

Catch the Chill: Snow Fantasy brings Manali & Switzerland to Mangaluru

  •   1 hour ago   

Comment on this article

  • SmR, Karkala

    Sat, Jan 26 2019

    Arun Jaitley, who is currently undergoing treatment for soft tissue cancer in the US, is facing flak for allegedly throwing his weight behind former ICICI Bank CEO Chanda Kochhar, who’s being probed for criminal act in the Rs 3,250 crore scam. Kochhar was named in the CBI FIR along with her husband Deepak Kochhar and the promoter of the Videocon Group last week.

    Since people have short memory in India, it’s worth casting our minds back to last year when the Rs 3,250 crore scam was first brought to light by a whistle-blower Arvind Gupta.

    In his complaint Gupta had demanded an appropriate investigation into ‘illicit banking and commercial relationship between Videocon Group of Venugopal Dhoot and the then ICICI Bank’s MD & CEO Chanda Kochhar’s family owned NuPower Renewable Group steered by her husband Deepak Kochhar.’ Gupta had accused accused Kochhars of ‘amassing wrongful personal gains by deceiving stakeholders, shareholders, public / private sector banks and Indian Regulatory Agencies for unjust and illegal enrichment through corrupt banking practices within India and tax heavens by a high level CBI/ED/SFIO/SEBI/the RBI team to ensure healthy private sector Banking.’ She was later forced to resign from her post as the MD and the CEO of ICICI.

    Chanda Kochhar was last year summoned by the anti-fraud agency, SFIO, in a bank fraud case related to over Rs 5,000 crore loan extended to diamond merchant Mehul Choksi.

    The transfer of ownership to Deepak Kochchar took place just six months after the Videocon Group was given a loan of Rs 3,250 crore from ICICI Bank, headed by Chanda Kochhar.

    Arun Jaitley’s defended the scam-tainted Kochhar. He did not act when whistle-blower brought Rs 3,250 crore scam to his attention last year.

    Why Enforcement Directorate is silent one BJP's scams that are in propostion larger than the AgustaWestland?
    Jai Hind

    Reply Report Abuse

  • mohammed, Mangalore

    Sat, Jan 26 2019

    Now sikulars will start grumbling for this also.

    Reply Report Abuse

  • Vincent, Mangalore

    Sat, Jan 26 2019

    Good work by the ED.
    Modi seems to be doing a good Job.

    Reply Report Abuse

  • Dr S Kamath, Mumbai

    Sat, Jan 26 2019

    ED s prizely carch
    Thus time they arrested him for money laundering andvpossession of huge cash unaccounted

    Reply Report Abuse

  • Jossey Saldanha, Mumbai

    Sat, Jan 26 2019

    He was supposed to bring back Vijay, Nirav & Chokshi ...

    Reply Report Abuse

  • MAHESH, MANGALORE

    Sat, Jan 26 2019

    AS MODI LOSING HIS ALLIANCES AND UNDERSTOOD THAT HE IS NO MORE GOING TO BE PM AFTER THIS ELECTION HE IS USING GOVERNMENT MACHINERY ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

    SC SHOULD RELEASE HIS POWER FROM EC,ED,RBI,ED,IT,NIA,,,,,,,,,,,

    HE WILL GO SUCH EXTENT TO ASK THESE PEOPLE TO CAMPAIGN FOR HIM..............

    Reply Report Abuse


Leave a Comment

Title: ED arrests Gautam Khaitan in AgustaWestland case



You have 2000 characters left.

Disclaimer:

Please write your correct name and email address. Kindly do not post any personal, abusive, defamatory, infringing, obscene, indecent, discriminatory or unlawful or similar comments. Daijiworld.com will not be responsible for any defamatory message posted under this article.

Please note that sending false messages to insult, defame, intimidate, mislead or deceive people or to intentionally cause public disorder is punishable under law. It is obligatory on Daijiworld to provide the IP address and other details of senders of such comments, to the authority concerned upon request.

Hence, sending offensive comments using daijiworld will be purely at your own risk, and in no way will Daijiworld.com be held responsible.

You might also like