In a major boost to agencies probing high-profile corruption cases, a Dubai-based businessman wanted in the VVIP choppers case and a corporate aviation lobbyist have been deported to India and arrested by the Enforcement Directorate, officials said Thursday.
In a major boost to agencies probing high-profile corruption cases, a Dubai-based businessman wanted in the VVIP choppers case and a corporate aviation lobbyist have been deported to India and arrested by the Enforcement Directorate, officials said Thursday.
They said Rajeev Shamsher Bahadur Saxena wanted in the Rs 3,600 crore AgustaWestland VVIP choppers money laundering case and lobbyist Deepak Talwar, wanted by the ED and the CBI in a case of allegedly misusing over Rs 90 crore taken through the foreign funding route, were brought in a special plane from Dubai to Delhi around 1:30 AM.
This led Rajya Sabha BJP MP Subramanian Swamy to say: “Thanks to Namo it seems Dubai / Abu Dhabhi no more safe sanctuary for Indian criminals. If this trend continues we shall soon see Dawood back . Anymore potification (sic) on twitter from abroad”
Meanwhile, the BJP’s Twitter handle dropped a Dark Knight reference and wrote: “Last time we saw such a swift extradition, Batman got Lau from Hong Kong.”
Last time we saw such swift extradition, it was Batman extraditing Lau from Hong Kong and delivering him to Jim Gordon.
— BJP (@BJP4India) January 31, 2019
"Everything's impossible until somebody does it". This time it's PM Narendra Modi. #DisruptionOfCorruption https://t.co/bj6xKDb8tM
You just earned my vote with that analogy! @Sheshadri1992
— Madhavan (@Maddykalkunte) January 31, 2019
Hahaha! What an example. Who’s who in this Justice League?
— Prasad Karwa (@PrasadKarwa) January 31, 2019
Wonder Woman - Smriti Irani & Sushma Swaraj
Superman - Amit Shah & Piyush Goyal
Aqua Man - Nitin Gadkari #DisruptionOfCorruption
I Pledge My Vote.
— Piyush Mody (@Piyushmody999) January 31, 2019
Have you ?
I support our PM Shri Narendra Modi's vision for India and look forward to him leading the country again in 2019. I pledge #MyFirstVoteForModi, you can also support him by taking this pledge here. https://t.co/U74jQUONFG
Well done. But don’t loose focus. It’s game on.
— Random Observer (@Ideadebator) January 31, 2019
Wow. Who wrote this tweet.
— Swamy Saranam (@abhi2007) January 31, 2019
Beware of joker
— aman (@iitian_psycho) January 31, 2019
This tweet has @BJP4Karnataka handle written all over it https://t.co/9GXOjhUCw9
— Mallika Bhat (@mallika_sp) January 31, 2019
Brilliant https://t.co/Auxi9bHD0u
— Dr. Parimal Tripathi (@EminentAuditor) January 31, 2019
BJP quoting Batman.
— Wandering Soul (@jha907) January 31, 2019
Modiji quoting PUBG.
Now we can say that our politicians are cool af. https://t.co/eDQUUU95D6
ahahahahah @BJP4Karnataka team now with @BJP4India :P https://t.co/b7nggtJE0W
— Nirwa Sharma (@nirwamehta) January 31, 2019
Conscious outreach to Millennials. https://t.co/FoTjIPifZK
— Ishan Sharma (@ishancon) January 31, 2019
— Sambit Nayak (@sambitlnt) January 31, 2019
Filmy...hmm...nice. https://t.co/0F362smwoX
— Thought Value (@s_khushu) January 31, 2019
That was the fav scene from The Dark Knight ...Swag from Bruce Wayne !!!! https://t.co/h3xB4CVoea
— Avadhesh Pandya (@AD_views) January 31, 2019
Savagehttps://t.co/Ctqjq31RG1
— Mrityunjay Tiwari (@mrityunjayt) January 31, 2019
Ye official handle ka kaaya-palat ho gaya. Aise hee form mein raho https://t.co/0gSBj1tSFO
— Old_School_Engineer (@a_muglikar) January 31, 2019
1. Being questioned by ED
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The two are being questioned at an ED facility in central Delhi and after a medical checkup, they will be produced before the court, they said.
A co-accused and alleged middleman in this case, British national Christian James Michel was recently extradited from Dubai to India (in December last year). He is currently in judicial custody.
Saxena's lawyers alleged that no extradition proceedings were started against him in the UAE and he was not allowed to access his family or lawyers while being sent to India.
Talwar has been charged with criminal conspiracy, forgery and under various sections of the FCRA for allegedly diverting Rs 90.72 crore worth of foreign funds meant for ambulances and other articles received by his NGO from Europe's leading missile manufacturing company. His role in some aviation deals during the UPA government's regime is under scanner.
Talwar has been booked by the ED and the CBI in criminal cases of corruption, even as the Income Tax Department has charged him with tax evasion.
2. Who is Rajeev Saxena?
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The ED had summoned Rajeev Saxena, a resident of Palm Jumeirah in Dubai, multiple times in the case but he never appeared. The agency has charged him with being "in collusion" with Gautam Khaitan, another accused in the AgustaWestland choppers purchase case, for routing the purported kick backs of the deal even as it is understood that Michel had links with him.
The agency had arrested his wife Shivani Saxena from the Chennai airport in July, 2017. She is now out on bail.
The ED had alleged that Rajeev, his wife and their two Dubai-based firms -- Ms UHY Saxena, Dubai and Ms Matrix Holdings -- routed "the proceeds of crime and further layered and integrated in buying the immovable properties/shares among others".
3. AgustaWestland link
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The ED had said that its probe found that "Agusta Westland International Ltd, UK paid an amount of Euro 58 million as kickbacks through Gordian Services Sarl, Tunisia and IDS Sarl, Tunisia. "These companies further siphoned off the said money/ proceeds of crime in the name of consultancy contracts to Interstellar Technologies Ltd, Mauritius, and others which were further transferred to UHY Saxena, Dubai and Matrix Holdings Ltd. Dubai and others," the ED had charged.
4. Christian Michel - extradited from UAE
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Michel, who despite being a British National, was extradited from a UAE in December 2018. The operation to get him back was named operation 'Unicorn' and according to the CBI it was "carried out under the guidance of National Security Advisor Ajit Doval" and was "coordinated by interim CBI Director M Nageswar Rao"
5. Shot in the arm for Modi government
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The extradition of Michel is being considered a shot in the arm for the Narendra Modi government just before the 2019 polls. Reacting to the extradition PM Modi had said, "We've caught a 'raazdaar' of chopper scam and brought him here. The entire (Gandhi) family is now scared of the things which will be revealed. They are scared as to whose name will he take if he opens his mouth".
He has been in the custody of the CBI and ED since December. According to the ED, during an interrogation, Michel had taken the name of "Mr Gandhi", though the reference wasn't clear. He had spoken about "the son of the Italian lady" and how he going to become the "next prime minister of the country".
