ED tracks cash; summons Tyagis, Gupta in VVIP chopper case

May 04, 2016 05:04 pm | Updated 05:04 pm IST - New Delhi

Widening its probe in the Rs 3,600 crore VVIP chopper deal, the ED has begun a trail of “cash” which is suspected to have been paid as alleged kickbacks for the purchase of 12 helicopters from UK-based AgustaWestland.

The financial probe agency has set the ball rolling with the second round of questioning of witnesses and accused in connection with the scam and is likely to quiz former IAF Chief S P Tyagi tomorrow, provided his recording of statement with the CBI ends today.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED), which has been probing the money laundering angle in the case, has summoned cousins of Tyagi after his round of questioning is over, besides realty firm Emaar MGF’s boss Shravan Gupta.

Gupta’s name cropped up after it was found that the alleged middleman Guido Haschke was an independent director of the firm between September to December 2009.

Company officials said Gupta will cooperate with investgative agencies.

The ED, in its charge sheet filed last year in a court, had claimed to have detected flow of alleged kickbacks sent from abroad to companies of the accused Gautam Khaitan and cousin brothers of the former IAF chief.

Officials said the flow of funds is being probed as it is alleged that it was quid pro quo to make AgustaWestland eligible to get selected for the final delivery of the 12 AW—101 helicopters to India for VVIP flying duties.

The ED, as per the charge sheet, had traced two payments of Euro 1,26,000 and another two lakh Euros from a company based in Tunisia and others made to Tyagi brothers “camouflaged” in the form of consultancy fee and its probe had found that the said “remittances correspond with the developments taking place in alteration/reduction of mandatory servicing ceiling of the helicopters.”

The ED claimed that “besides these two remittances, the Tyagi brothers including the then IAF Chief Tyagi, also received some amount of cash from Haschke and Gerosa.”

The ED probe found that the alleged middlemen Haschke and Carlo Gerosa, in collusion with the Tyagi brothers Sanjeev, Rajeev and Sandeep “managed to make inroads in IAF through Air Chief Marshal Tyagi and thereby could influence and subvert the consistent stand of IAF regarding mandatory service ceiling of the helicopters.”

This ground was used by CBI and ED to register their respective FIRs in the case and brought out the alleged illegal involvement of the ex—IAF chief and his cousins in perpetrating the scam.

The agency, sources said, suspects the tainted cash could have been used by the accused for making certain high—value payments and purchase of costly items.

It is also expected that a joint team of the two agencies could be authorised by the government to soon travel to few overseas locations to track the trail of funds, both through wire tranfer and cash.

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