A day after Union Minister Arun Jaitley cautioned Central Bureau of Investigation against "investigative adventurism" for booking top bankers in ICICI Bank-Videocon Group loans case, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested lawyer Gautam Khaitan, accused in the VVIP chopper case, on Saturday, in connection with a fresh case of possession of black money and money laundering.

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The agency said that Khaitan was placed under arrest on Friday night under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). He was produced before a city court on Saturday where he was sent to two-day ED custody.

The fresh criminal case, under the PMLA, was filed by the ED on the basis of a case filed by the Income-Tax Department under Section 51 of the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act, 2015. It is alleged that Khaitan has been operating and holding a number of foreign accounts illegally and thereby possessing black money and stash assets.

The investigative agencies got fresh leads against Khaitan after the questioning of Christian Michel, an alleged middleman in the VVIP chopper deal with AgustaWestland, who was extradited by India from Dubai in December 2018.

The I-T Department had also carried out searches against Khaitan last week.

He was arrested by the ED and the CBI a few years ago in connection with their probe in the Rs 3,600-crore AgustaWestland case. A charge sheet was also filed against him by the two agencies after which he was out on bail, they said.

Khaitan introduced Italian middlemen Carlo Gerosa and Guido Haschke to Pratap Agarwal, owner and managing director of IDS Infotech India. He arranged for execution of agreements between AgustaWestland and IDS Infotech India to enable the transfer of money to India. He then arranged the incorporation of IDS Information Technology and Engineering Sarl Tunisia as a subsidiary of IDS Infotech.

Hedi Kamoun was appointed as one of the directors on behalf of Gerosa and Guido Haschke. This was done by transferring its shareholding in their favour through Euromed Holding LLC, USA. This company facilitated the transfer of money from AgustaWestland to the VVIP Chopper dealer.

Further, Khaitan also incorporated Incrust Infotechno (later Aeromatrix Info Solutions). Later, Gerosa and Haschke were appointed as directors, after which the entire ownership was transferred to Gerosa and Haschke through Infotech Design Systems Mauritius. Khaitan was one of the directors of Aeromatrix, which had facilitated the transfer of money from AgustaWestland through IDS Tunisia and IDS Mauritius.

Khaitan incorporated IDS Mauritius through his overseas business partner ML Administrators Ltd (MLAL) which was owned by Euromed Holding LLC.

It is also alleged that Khaitan is close to the Banda family of Zambia, particularly Henry Banda. Rupiah Banda was the fourth president of Zambia. He has three sons - Henry Banda, Nenani Banda, and Dingani Banda. Dingani Banda has also received 250,000 euros from IDS Tunisia. Khaitan has helped set up trust and companies for Henry Banda in Seychelles to buy a property in Kenya. Rupiah Banda and his sons were involved in a series of financial fraud. Rupiah was arrested in 2013, following which Henry escaped Zambia as a fugitive billionaire.

The CBI, often at the receiving end of opposition parties, had attracted a sharp rebuke from Finance Minister Arun Jaitley who in a blog on Friday used strong language against the country's top investigation agency. Jaitley called the CBI's move of filing an FIR in the ICICI-Videocon loan case as "investigative adventurism."

The CBI, in its FIR, had said that the loans to Videocon had been sanctioned in violation of the bank's credit policy and the role of these senior officers may also be investigated. In a blog post, Jaitley had said one of the reasons for "poor" conviction rate in India is that "adventurism and megalomania" overtake investigators and professionalism takes a back seat.

The blog by the minister, who is recuperating from an illness in the US, added, "Sitting thousands of kilometers away, when I read the list of potential targets in the ICICI case, the thought that crossed my mind was again the same - instead of focusing primarily on the target, is a journey to nowhere (or everywhere) being undertaken?"

RS 500-CRORE ALLEGATION

  • Agency claims Khaitan has unidentified assets worth over Rs 500 crore; says his custody is required to unearth the conspiracy   
  • He was arrested by the ED and the CBI a few years ago in connection with their probe in the Rs 3,600-cr AgustaWestland case