Key Agusta Westland accused names Kamal Nath's son, Salman Khurshid in statement: Report

In the latest development in the Rs 3,600-crore Agusta Westland scam, key accused in the case Rajiv Saxena has named Kamal Nath’s son Bakul Nath along with Congress leaders Salman Khurshid and Ahmed Patel in his statement, according to report by The Indian Express.

The Dubai-based businessman Saxena is currently out on bail till the next hearing on December 11. He was extradited to India on January 31, 2019, in connection with the scam relating to the purchase of 12 VVIP helicopters from Agusta Westland, after which he was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case related to the scam.

Saxena’s statements to the Enforcement Directorate were accessed by The Indian Express along with copies of banking records of offshore companies.

According to the Indian Express assessment, Saxena told ED that the payoffs in the deal "were for the benefit of political leaders and bureaucrats who were in a position of influencing the decision at that point of time." "Some of these funds were once again, directly or indirectly, through structured transactions, and some of the structures set up by me were routed into investments in India."

In his statement, he also mentioned a company named Pristine River Investments which is linked to Kamal Nath’s son, Bakul Nath. He said, “We (another accused Sushen Mohan Gupta and himself) received bridge funding through Pristine River Investments, a company managed by John Docherty for Bakul Nath, son of Kamal Nath. Thus, indirectly funds from Interstellar Technologies and Global Services were used to repay the loans from Pristine River Investments.”

However, both Kamal Nath and Salman Khurshid rejected these claims saying that there were no documents or bank accounts that would prove Saxena's claims.

“As far as my son, Bakul Nath, is concerned, he is an NRI based in Dubai. I had heard about him being described as the Beneficial Owner of Pristine River and when I spoke to my son, he said he knew nothing about the company. There are no documents or bank accounts which prove a connection to him. Anyone can open an offshore account and put a name of someone as Beneficial Owner and not even inform him. He may not even know about it,” Nath told the publication.

Recently, the CBI has sought sanction to prosecute former defence secretary Shashi Kant Sharma, who later became Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), in connection with the VVIP chopper deal.

Agusta Westland deal

A proposal for new helicopters as an alternative to the IAF's Soviet-era Mi8s to ferry VVIPs -- the President, the Prime Minister, the Vice President, and the Defence Minister -- was put forth in 1999.

The IAF had pitched for high altitude flying helicopter. Since Agusta Westland's helicopters did not meet the 6,000-meter ceiling parameter of the IAF, it was out of the list.

The CBI has alleged that the then IAF chief S P Tyagi played a role in recommending a reduction in the operational ceiling of the helicopters from 6,000 meters to 4,500 meters which opened a way for Agusta Westland to join the race.

This, according to the CBI, was allegedly done at the behest of Finmeccanica and Agusta Westland top executives who engaged the services of three middlemen -- Christain Michel, Guido Haschke, and Carlos Gerosa. They allegedly paid bribes to Tyagi and his cousins Rajiv, Sandeep, and Julie.

The agency has also alleged that Michel's firms received about 42.27 million euros, approximately seven per cent, from the companies to swing the Rs 3,600 crore deal in their favour.

The bribes were allegedly routed through companies of Michel and an advocate, Gautam Khaitan, in the form of multiple contracts through layered transactions to camouflage them.