JOIN USKamal Nath's son, AgustaWestland accused Rajiv Saxena on Pandora Papers list: Report
As the Pandora Papers opened the lid on offshore businesses of the world's elite, the names of Indians with offshore links are being unfurled too, one by one.
The names of business tycoon Anil Ambani and cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar have also featured in Pandora's list, but the latest big revelations are the names of Congress leader Kamal Nath's son Bakul and AgustaWestland deal key accused Rajiv Saxena, as reported by The Indian Express.
Records accessed by the publication allegedly pointed towards new evidence in the corruption case being handled by the CBI and ED.
During the interrogation, Saxena, on bail at the moment, had name-dropped Bakul Nath.
Saxena who was allegedly operating illegally with Gautam Khaitan, a Delhi-base lawyer, reportedly got €12.40 million from AgustaWestland deposited in the account of Interstellar Technologies, 99.9% of the shares of which were taken over by Saxena (by 2000). The embezzled money was then used to pay other middlemen.
By 2000, Saxena had taken over 99.9% of the shares of Interstellar Technologies.
“We (he and co-accused Sushen Mohan Gupta) 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 were used to repay the loans from Pristine River Investment", Saxena had told The Indian Express in November last year.
An offshore company, Spector Consultancy Services, set up by Trident Trust in February 2018 linked the NRI Bakul Nath to Swiss national Docherty, the Pandora Papers revealed.
Spector Consultancy Services says that Nath is the Beneficial Owner and lists him with a Dubai address. Docherty, it says, is its first Director.
The shareholder of Spector Consultancy Services is another BVI firm by the name Cellbrook Limited, which has its purpose listed as 'owning real estate'. Its first 3-year assets are reported to be pegged at $10 million.
In Saxena's case, in 2014 he allegedly set up a trust for personal assets with its underlying company in the BVI being Tanay Holdings Limited, linked to shares or ownership of 14 other assets, inclusive of the shares of his Palm Jumeirah villa, reported The Indian Express.
Tanay Holdings Ltd, based in Belize, was another underlying company of Tanay Trust. It controls banks accounts of the likes of UBS Bank and Credit Suisse in Zurich.
Matrix UAE Trust, Saxena's business trust, was set up as an offshore venture with Matrix International Limited as its underlying BVI firm in 2014. Many flagship companies of Saxena, including some linked to AgustaWestland - a deal cancelled by the Centre in 2014, were reportedly pledged to Matrix UAE Trust.
In 2017 Shivani Saxena, Raiv's wife, was arrested at Chennai airport in connection with the AgustaWestland helicopter scam, triggering a link that would could Saxena to it too.
After her arrest, Rajiv asked Trident Trust to liquidate the structures of Tanay Trust, Matrix UAE Trust, and their linked BVIs, and hand their shares over to him urgently.
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