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    Co-accused in AgustaWestland deal, lawyer Gautam Khaitan arrested by ED on black money charges remanded to two days custody

    Synopsis

    Special prosecutor for ED, Advocate Davinder Pal Singh told the Court that income tax sleuths have discovered black money over Rs 500 crores involving Khaitan.

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    ET was the first to report last July that Khaitan was charge sheeted by ED in the VVIP chopper deal.
    NEW DELHI:A local Court today remanded lawyer Gautam Khaitan to two days custody of Enforcement Directorate (ED) which arrested him Friday in a fresh case of black money. The Court granted only two days custody as opposed to seven days demanded by ED.

    Special prosecutor for ED, Advocate Davinder Pal Singh told the Court that income tax sleuths have discovered black money over Rs 500 crores involving Khaitan. Singh told the Court that Khaitan, who was arrested Friday evening, is not co-operating with the investigation.

    Sources in the probe agencies told ET that the probe agencies have received “incriminating” documents against Khaitan through official channels. Khaitan is allegedly involved in laundering over Rs 500 crores emanating from various deals including defence deals during the UPA tenure, people with direct knowledge of the matter told ET. It is further alleged that Khaitan used several Indian and foreign bank accounts to launder the money of various politicians abroad and influential persons in foreign countries.

    One of them includes Zambia’s Banda family involving fourth President of Zambia who along with his sons are allegedly involved in series of financial frauds.

    On the other hand, counsel for Khaitan argued that Khaitan has been previously arrested by ED and enlarged on bail in the VVIP chopper deal. The defence counsel claimed that Khaitan’s arrest is illegal and that the entire investigation pertains to AgustaWestland deal.

    The Court however held “remand of the accused can be given when any material information is to be extracted from the accused. If I come to the nature of the offence of this case, this case pertains to the offence under Section 3 & 4 of PMLA Act. In the offences of money laundering, the knowledge of the transaction and the documents is the material information and it always lies only in the personal knowledge of the accused. Therefore, there is a ground for granting Khaitan to custody”.

    Finding force in contentions raised by ED’s prosecutor, the Court held that if any transaction, any new offence is disclosed on which the separate chargesheet can be filed, then that offence requires a separate investigation.

    Last week, the Income Tax Department sleuths had raided offices and various other properties in Delhi-NCR belonging to Gautam Khaitan.

    The Delhi based lawyer stands charge sheeted- both by Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED)- in the high profile VVIP chopper deal. Khaitan was arrested in September 2014 for his alleged involvement in the AgustaWestland deal. Khaitan was enlarged on bail in January 2015. Khaitan was again arrested along with Sanjeev Tyagi on December 9, 2016 by CBI.

    ET was the first to report last July that Khaitan was charge sheeted by ED in the VVIP chopper deal.

    The agency had elaborated on how the bribe money paid to clinch the chopper deal was “layered” and projected as “untainted money” by creating “fictitious invoices.” It mentioned how fictitious engineering contracts were created to hide the kickbacks allegedly paid by AgustaWestland to companies directly controlled by Khaitan and his associate Rajiv Saxena, a co-accused in the case.

    ED’s supplementary charge sheet put the spotlight on Khaitan. It explained how some disclosures about his “complicity” came from Khaitan’s “associates, colleagues, staff.” In response to the letters rogatory written by India, documents were received from Mauritius, Singapore and Switzerland.

    These witnesses, the agency claimed, explained Khaitan’s role in communicating and dealing with companies used to launder the tainted money. They provided details of Khaitan’s overseas business associates “who were assisting in laundering the proceeds.”

    The agency said Khaitan “controlled the modus operandi and has been responsible for routing the money, misusing his connections, his clients including the ones inherited from his father, to launder the money with the use of variety of accounts using companies and individuals in Dubai, Mauritius, Singapore, Tunisia, Switzerland, UK, India and others.”He also used various accounts, including those of his undisclosed shell companies outside India, which he had formed to launder the money.

    Saxena was a close professional and personal associate of Khaitan and became involved in the “money laundering operation,” the ED said. He assisted Khaitan in setting up shell companies and used the accounts of his companies and clients to route money through various channels to the intended beneficiaries, the charge sheet said.

    ET on January 15 reported that Khaitan’s mention was found in one of the despatches written by Christian Michel, alleged middleman in the AgustaWestland deal.

    In a December 6, 2009 despatch, allegedly authored by Michel, he warns his associate Guido Ralph Haschke to distance himself from advocate Gautam Khaitan, a co-accused in the VVIP chopper deal.

    Reason: Michel claimed that Khaitan in cahoots with a friend of his (Khaitan) in the Enforcement Directorate (ED) tried to organise a raid by ED on real estate firm Emaar MGF a month before the launch of their initial public offering (IPO). And that the MGF “family” has learnt about the people behind this move.


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