Water Car Engineer
ELITE MEMBER
- Joined
- Sep 25, 2010
- Messages
- 13,313
- Reaction score
- 8
- Country
- Location
The former Air Chief Marshal S.P. Tyagi’s cousins and their firms received €1.05 million in kickbacks from AgustaWestland-UK through middlemen to help swing the Rs. 3,700-crore VVIP chopper deal in its favour, the Enforcement Directorate has said.
The directorate has provisionally attached five prime properties in Kaushambi and Noida in Uttar Pradesh and in Gurgaon in Haryana, worth Rs.6.2 crore on paper, allegedly belonging to Sanjeev, Sandeep and Rajeev Tyagi. “In connection with the procurement of 12 helicopters from AgustaWestland, a subsidiary of Italian firm Finmeccanica, a bribe of about 58 million euros was allegedly paid through Christian Michel, Carlo Gerosa and Guido Ralph Haschke [alleged middlemen]. It was alleged that the kickback amount was paid to various people who helped in the deal,” said the ED statement.
ED investigations revealed that €1.05 million from the amount was paid to the three cousins of the former Air Chief Marshal, by Haschke and Gerosa through their Tunisia-based companies, Gordian Services Sarl and IDS Tunisia, mostly in the guise of consultancy charges.
“Payment €4.05 lakh (about Rs. 2.49 crore) to the Tyagi brothers was made through the banking channel between 2004 and 2011 and the remaining amount was paid in cash between April 2011 and December 2011 after the contract was signed on February 8, 2010, for the supply of 12 helicopters,” said an ED spokesperson.
The money was used by the Tyagis to acquire properties. “Following painstaking investigations, five immovable properties of the Tyagi brothers, worth Rs. 6.2 crore, have been provisionally attached. Further investigations are under way,” he said.
The Indian government scrapped the chopper deal in January 2014 after Italian prosecutors alleged that the company hired the services of middlemen to facilitate the contract. While the Central Bureau of Investigation registered a case against the former Air Chief Marshal, his three cousins and a few others in March 2013, the ED initiated the money laundering probe in July last year.
A year ago, the directorate arrested one Gautam Khaitan for his alleged role in routing funds through a Chandigarh-based company Aeromatrix and Mauritius-based firm Interstellar.
Haschke and Gerosa had also roped in Mohali-based IDS-India to route the funds on the pretext of awarding them engineering contracts. AgustaWestland made IDS-India a Tunisia subsidiary for the purpose.
Between November 2007 and April 2010, IDS-India allegedly received €2.1 million from AgustaWestland. The money was received through the Tunisia firm, whereas the work was executed by IDS-India. Also, there was allegedly a significant difference between the bills raised for per-manpower remuneration and the actual receipts.
Mr. Haschke and Mr. Gerosa later acquired IDS-Tunisia, following which Aeromatrix was incorporated and the business of IDS-India transferred to the new entity. The ED has alleged that 82 per cent Aeromatrix shares were held by IDS-Mauritius and 17 per cent by Mr. Khaitan.
VVIP chopper deal: Tyagi’s kin took €1.05 million: ED - The Hindu
The directorate has provisionally attached five prime properties in Kaushambi and Noida in Uttar Pradesh and in Gurgaon in Haryana, worth Rs.6.2 crore on paper, allegedly belonging to Sanjeev, Sandeep and Rajeev Tyagi. “In connection with the procurement of 12 helicopters from AgustaWestland, a subsidiary of Italian firm Finmeccanica, a bribe of about 58 million euros was allegedly paid through Christian Michel, Carlo Gerosa and Guido Ralph Haschke [alleged middlemen]. It was alleged that the kickback amount was paid to various people who helped in the deal,” said the ED statement.
ED investigations revealed that €1.05 million from the amount was paid to the three cousins of the former Air Chief Marshal, by Haschke and Gerosa through their Tunisia-based companies, Gordian Services Sarl and IDS Tunisia, mostly in the guise of consultancy charges.
“Payment €4.05 lakh (about Rs. 2.49 crore) to the Tyagi brothers was made through the banking channel between 2004 and 2011 and the remaining amount was paid in cash between April 2011 and December 2011 after the contract was signed on February 8, 2010, for the supply of 12 helicopters,” said an ED spokesperson.
The money was used by the Tyagis to acquire properties. “Following painstaking investigations, five immovable properties of the Tyagi brothers, worth Rs. 6.2 crore, have been provisionally attached. Further investigations are under way,” he said.
The Indian government scrapped the chopper deal in January 2014 after Italian prosecutors alleged that the company hired the services of middlemen to facilitate the contract. While the Central Bureau of Investigation registered a case against the former Air Chief Marshal, his three cousins and a few others in March 2013, the ED initiated the money laundering probe in July last year.
A year ago, the directorate arrested one Gautam Khaitan for his alleged role in routing funds through a Chandigarh-based company Aeromatrix and Mauritius-based firm Interstellar.
Haschke and Gerosa had also roped in Mohali-based IDS-India to route the funds on the pretext of awarding them engineering contracts. AgustaWestland made IDS-India a Tunisia subsidiary for the purpose.
Between November 2007 and April 2010, IDS-India allegedly received €2.1 million from AgustaWestland. The money was received through the Tunisia firm, whereas the work was executed by IDS-India. Also, there was allegedly a significant difference between the bills raised for per-manpower remuneration and the actual receipts.
Mr. Haschke and Mr. Gerosa later acquired IDS-Tunisia, following which Aeromatrix was incorporated and the business of IDS-India transferred to the new entity. The ED has alleged that 82 per cent Aeromatrix shares were held by IDS-Mauritius and 17 per cent by Mr. Khaitan.
VVIP chopper deal: Tyagi’s kin took €1.05 million: ED - The Hindu
