A Delhi court on Tuesday summoned former directors of AgustaWestland and Finmccanica, Giuseppe Orsi and Bruno Spagnolini, former Indian Air Force chief SP Tyagi and others in connection with a money laundering case related to the VVIP chopper scam.
Special judge Arvind Kumar ordered the accused to appear before the court on September 12, PTI reported. Kumar issued new non-bailable warrants against Italian middlemen Carlo Gerosa and Guido Haschke and Dubai-based businessman Rajeev Saxena.
The Delhi court also summoned 28 Indian and foreign individuals, including lawyer Gautam Khaitan, as well as representatives of AgustaWestland and its parent company Finmeccanica SPA.
Kumar said there was enough evidence to support allegations that the accused were involved in allegedly misappropriating funds. Special public prosecutors DP Singh and NK Matta accused AgustaWestland of paying kickbacks via two channels.
The Enforcement Directorate’s chargesheet alleged that several foreign firms were used as fronts to pay the kickbacks, the news agency reported. “One channel was handled by middleman Christian Michel James and the other channel was handled by Gerosa and Haschke,” the chargesheet said. “Gerosa and Haschke in collusion with Rajiv Tyagi and Sanjeev Tyagi, cousins of S P Tyagi, conspired with Gautam Khaitan of M/s OP Khaitan & Co, Auditors and Solicitors based at New Delhi.”
The accused summoned include Tyagi’s cousins, Khaitan and his wife Ritu and directors of Dubai-based UHY Saxena and Matrix Holdings Rajeev Saxena and his wife Shivani.
The AgustaWestland scam
The AgustaWestland helicopter deal, which had snowballed into a huge controversy, is related to an agreement signed in 2010 to buy 12 helicopters from the Italian firm. The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government was in power at the time. The deal was put on hold after Italy arrested the head of Finmeccanica in 2013.
On December 9, 2016, the CBI had arrested Tyagi and two others for allegedly accepting kickbacks to influence the purchase of the 12 VVIP helicopters. The CBI had said the deal was worth Rs 3,767 crore, of which 12% was paid in bribes. Tyagi was granted bail on December 26, 2016, while the others got it on January 4, 2017.
In May 2016, the CBI had said two “suspicious” payments were made to accounts held by the former Air Force chief. The agency also learnt that Tyagi was an owner or shareholder in at least five different companies. He retired from his post in the Air Force in 2007.
On July 19, the Congress accused the Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party government of forcing British businessman Christian Michel to frame Sonia Gandhi in exchange for being exonerated. Michel has reportedly been in detention for the last 40 days in Dubai.
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