VVIP chopper deal: Enforcement Directorate searches premises of businessman Gautam Khaitan

NEW DELHI: The Enforcement Directorate today conducted searches on the premises of a former board member of an accused firm in connection with its money laundering probe in the Rs 3,600 crore Agustawestland chopper deal.

Officials said the agency searched two premises of Gautam Khaitan in Delhi and seized jewellery worth Rs 1 crore and impounded some financial documents.

The agency's action came in the backdrop of a criminal case slapped by it against Khaitan, former IAF chief S P Tyagi and 19 others in the VVIP chopper deal to probe alleged kickbacks of Rs 360 crore.

Khaitan, an advocate, was on the board of Chandigarh-based company Aeromatrix.

According to the CBI and other agencies, they have detected that funds for the particular deal were allegedly routed through this firm.

A reference to Khaitan was reportedly made in the Italian prosecutor's report filed in a court in Italy.

He, however, has refuted all the allegations made against him.

Khaitan was earlier quizzed by the CBI in this case. The ED had registered a case in this deal in July under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), taking cognisance of a more-than-a-year-old CBI FIR.

ED has booked Tyagi, his family members, European nationals Carlo Gerosa, Christian Michel and Guido Haschke, four companies-- Italy-based Finmeccanica, UK-based AgustaWestland and Chandigarh-based IDS Infotech and Aeromatrix, two companies based in Mauritius and Tunisia, few other firms and unknown persons in its criminal complaint.

A total of 21 entities have been named by ED in the case. The ED is probing the deal in order to track the alleged "bribe money" in this deal.

The supply of 12 VVIP helicopters from AgustaWestland came under the scanner after Italian authorities alleged that bribe was paid by the company to clinch the deal.

The Italian prosecutor who carried out the preliminary inquiry alleged that the CEO of Finmeccanica, the parent company of UK-based AgustaWestland, had used the services of middlemen to bribe Indian officials.