AgustaWestland Case: Gautam Khaitan Arrested by ED on Money Laundering Charge
According to officials privy to the case, Khaitan was taken into arrest last night after the agency sleuths called him for interrogation.
New Delhi, January 26: Lawyer Gautam Khaitan, who allegedly played a middleman role in the VVIP chopper deal with AgustaWestland during the UPA era, was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on a fresh money laundering charge, reports confirmed on Saturday. The accused has been booked under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
According to officials privy to the case, Khaitan was taken into arrest last night after the agency sleuths called him for interrogation. The ED, they claimed, has gathered incrementing evidence against him. The lawyer is expected to be produced before the Patiala House Court today to seek his custody. AgustaWestland Case: Delhi Court Allows Former IAF Chief SP Tyagi to Travel Outside Country.
According to news agency PTI, the fresh criminal case under the PMLA was filed by the ED against Khaitan on the basis of a case filed by the Income Tax Department against him under Section 51 of the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act, 2015.
Khaitan has been alleged to have been operating and holding a number of foreign accounts illegally and thereby possessing black money and stash assets, they said.
It is understood that the investigative agencies have 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 last.
The Income Tax Department had last week carried out searches against Khaitan in this new case filed under the anti-black money law.
Khaitan had been 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 and he was currently out on bail, they said.
(With agency inputs)
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 26, 2019 01:18 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).