Augusta Westland Scam: CA Rajiv Saxena told- how bribe was given
Chartered accountant Rajiv Saxena, the main accused in the AgustaWestland VVIP chopper deal case, has told the Enforcement Directorate (ED) about the entities and investments through which parts of the alleged bribe were paid.
It also included defense dealer Susheen Mohan Gupta and Ratul Puri, nephew of former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath. The main accused CA Rajiv Saxena is currently out on bail. Saxena was extradited from Dubai in January 2019 and was questioned by the ED. The ED has attached assets worth Rs 385 crore to Saxena. In this case, the ED has now filed an appeal to end Saxena’s approval status.
The investigating agency believes that Saxena is allegedly not disclosing all the facts related to the case. His statement of more than 1000 pages (along with supporting documents) shows him claiming that his role was to manage things for prominent people like Sushne Mohan Gupta, Ratul Puri and Gautham Khaitan.
But information obtained through the Letters Rogatory in Italy and Mauritius shows that four of Saxena’s companies received approximately $ 10 million from Global Services, a company of Christian Michael, the alleged middleman. Christian Michael was extradited to India in December 2018.
He is also in jail. Whereas in June 2000, Saxena himself acquired a 99.9 stake in Interstellar Technology. In front of the documents received by the ED from Mauritius, Saxena claimed that they had cheated them very cleverly. However, he also admitted that he himself was a partner in the investment deals, through which the alleged bribe was given.
Saxena told ED as far as the investment made by Matrix Group Limited (Saxena’s company) in Optima Infrastructure Pvt Ltd in India through its wholly-owned subsidy Rigel Power Ltd, I confirm it. It has received money directly or indirectly from Interstellar Limited and global services FZC.
Saxena told the ED that a part of this investment was arranged by him (Ratul Puri) through Global Services FZC, which I was not aware of.
In the case of Sushne Mohan Gupta, Saxena told the ED that he had invested in two companies, DM Power and DM South India Hospitality.