ED names former IAF chief among 34 in AgustaWestland chargesheet
New Delhi, July 18 : The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday filed a chargesheet in the Rs 3,600 crore AgustaWestland VVIP chopper deal against 34 individuals and foreign and Indian companies including former IAF chief S.P. Tyagi, his two cousins, advocate Gautam Khaitan and Italians Carlo Gerosa and Guido Haschke.
While filing the chargesheet under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, the ED informed the magistrate that money was laundered through "multiple foreign companies".
The court was told that "foreign companies were used as fronts to park alleged kickbacks".
The ED chargesheet named the former IAF chief's cousins Sanjeev Tyagi and Rajiv Tyagi along with Bruno Spagnolini, former CEO of AgustaWestland, and Giuseppe Orsi, the former chief of Italian defence and aerospace major Finmeccanica.
Others named in the chargesheet are Rajeev Saxena, Director of Dubia-based firm Matrix Holdings, his wife Shivani Saxena and advocate Gautam Khaitan's wife Ritu Khaitan.
The chargesheet also names some Indian and foreign companies like Aeromatrix Info Solution Ltd, Windsor Group Holdings, Ismax International Ltd, Cricklewood Ltd, Long Lasting Ltd, Matrix Holding Pvt Ltd, UHY Saxena, Dubai Interstellar Technologies Ltd, O.P. Khaitan and Co International Mediterranean Consulting, Tunisia Infotech Design Systems, Gordian Services, Finmeccanica SPA and AgustaWestland.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) -- the prime investigating agency -- has already filed a chargesheet in the case.
On January 1, 2014, India cancelled the contract with Finmeccanica's British subsidiary AgustaWestland for supplying 12 AW-101 VVIP choppers to the IAF, over alleged breach of contractual obligations and on charges of paying kickbacks amounting to Rs 423 crore.
The CBI, which registered an FIR on March 12, 2013, alleged that S.P. Tyagi, who was the IAF chief from 2004 to 2007, and the other accused received kickbacks from AgustaWestland to help it win the contract.
The FIR mentioned charges of criminal conspiracy, cheating and offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
According to the CBI, S.P. Tyagi allegedly took bribes of several crores from AgustaWestland through the middlemen -- and a complex set of companies in several countries -- to change the specifications of the contract.
The operational flight ceiling of the choppers was reduced from 6,000 metres, as originally proposed, to 4,500 metres and the cabin height was brought down to 1.8 metres.
The twin modifications were allegedly meant to rig the deal in favour of AgustaWestland, which eventually walked away with the order to supply the 12 choppers for the Communication Squadron of the IAF to ferry the President, the Prime Minister and other VVIPs.
The CBI probe revealed that several payments were made to S.P. Tyagi by middlemen Haschke, Gerosa and Christian Michel James, whose name was not mentioned in the ED chargesheet.
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CPI(M) inaugurates NH-66 stretch in Kerala ahead of PM dedicates it to nation
Kochi (PTI): The ruling CPI(M) in Kerala on Wednesday inaugurated one of the completed stretches of NH-66, hours ahead of its dedication to the nation by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in protest against the exclusion of state PWD minister P A Mohammed Riyas from the PM's event.
Riyas, reportedly, will hold a roadshow on one of the completed stretches of the National Highway-66 that is scheduled to be inaugurated by the PM.
The Thalappady-Chengala stretch of NH 66 was inaugurated by CPI(M) MLA C H Kunhambu.
The roadshow by Riyas will be held on the Vengalam-Ramanattukara stretch of the Kozhikode bypass.
Both these stretches, which were upgraded to six lanes and already opened to the public, were set to be inaugurated by the PM at 12.30 pm here.
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According to government sources, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan won't attend the event, though his name is included in the programme schedule. However, no particular reason was cited for his decision to skip the event.
State Ministers M B Rajesh and K Krishnankutty, who have been invited to the PM's event, also said they are not taking part because of personal reasons.
In response to the CM and other ministers' decision, state BJP president Rajeev Chandrasekhar told reporters that, as per protocol Vijayan, being the head of the state, was invited for Modi's official event, and if the Marxist veteran was aggrieved over his son-in-law (Minister Riyas) not being there, that is his problem.
"As head of the state, the CM was invited in accordance with the protocol. It is nowhere said that the CM's son-in-law (Riyas) and other family members also have to be invited. If they have a problem with it, so be it. That is what I have to say," the BJP leader said.
"It was for the CM to decide who should accompany him. Elections will be held in the state in around 30 days. The CPI(M) is trying to create a controversy now as they know that after 30 days, Vijayan will not be CM and Riyas will not be a minister," Chandrasekhar said.
He further said that the CM was aware of the PM's visit 5-6 days in advance, and he did not say anything about who all should be invited.
"Why did he not say anything? This is all an attempt to create controversy. If you (CM) wanted a certain minister to accompany you, it should have been communicated to the government of India in advance. Why did you not do that? From what I know, the CM did not say anything to the Centre," the BJP state president claimed.
