Submit proof to freeze Abhishek Verma's bank account, says Liechtenstein to ED

NEW DELHI: In a major setback for the Narendra Modi government, Liechtenstein authorities have refused to share the details of foreign bank account being sought by Indian investigators in connection with a case involving arms dealer Abhishek Verma. During its election campaign last year, BJP had promised to bring back black money stashed abroad. Enforcement Directorate (ED) probing controversial arms dealer Verma alleged that he had stashed $205 million in ‘Aubar trust’ in LGT Bank.

This is the second time that Liechtenstein authorities have refused to share the details with Indian agencies.

Earlier, LGT Bank had frozen the bank account and asked India to provide evidence linking the account to Verma’s arms deals under investigation. But in October last year, Liechtenstein authorities restored the account and informed about this to ED in response to its first letter rogatory (LR), triggering a panic among CBI and ED.

In December last year, another request was made by Indian agencies to freeze the accounts. However, the Liechtenstein government replied last week that there is “insufficient evidence” to link the LGT Bank account to Swiss-based arms company Rheinmetall Air Defence (RAD) and Verma. It is learnt that the authorities have informed India about their inability to freeze the account again as India failed to give “credible” evidence even after a year.

The agency officials say there is little option for them after the second LR reply, but they plan to explore legal and diplomatic options. “We can not go on fishing expedition forever in such cases,” said an official expressing disappointment. The details of the bank account in Liechtenstein — considered to be a tax haven— came to light after the arrest of Verma and his Romanian wife Anca Neacsu by CBI in 2012.

CBI in its FIR alleged that RAD paid bribes to help it avoid being blacklisted in India.

In 2013, CBI filed a chargesheet following which ED started investigating the case under money laundering charges. According to CBI chargesheet, RAD was placed on a blacklist of arms firms in 2012 and was banned from doing business in India, the world’s largest arms buyer, following corruption allegations that the company denied.

CBI in its chargesheet alleged that RAD transferred $5,30,000 to a New York bank account belonging to Ganton Ltd, a Verma-owned US based company. Verma promised to stall the blacklisting process in exchange for money, according to the chargesheet.

Verma and his wife Anca were also charged under section 3 of the Officials Secret Act (OSA) for allegedly hatching well planned conspiracy for obtaining secret documents for any purpose prejudicial to safety and interest of India.