Chopper scam: CBI’s new charge sheet names 3 ex-‘witnesses’ as accused

New Delhi: Three of the 15 accused in the CBI’s latest charge sheet in the Rs 3,600-crore VVIP chopper scandal had initially been named as “witnesses” by the agency.
AgustaWestland’s former Delhi head KV Kunhikrishnan, the British helicopter maker’s ex-director Giacomo Saponaro and Deepak Goyal, a stenographer of co-accused Gautam Khaitan, are the three witnesses-turned-accused.

They were arrayed as “witnesses” by CBI in its previous charge sheet filed in August 2017. Following subsequent investigation and based on new evidence, the agency has converted them into accused and charged them under the Prevention of Corruption Act and criminal conspiracy in its latest charge sheet, said people in the know.

A special CBI court on Friday is likely to decide on whether to take cognisance of CBI’s charge sheet. The people who ET spoke to indicated that the alleged role of Khaitan, a lawyer, had been elaborated upon in the latest charge sheet.

The CBI has also furnished evidence pertaining to Khaitan’s alleged involvement with private individuals and routing of alleged kickbacks through “shell companies” and “middlemen” to pay bribes to VVIPs for swinging the chopper deal in favour of AgustaWestland, they said. It has given further details of companies allegedly used by Khaitan in connivance with accused-turned-approver Rajiv Saxena to route the alleged kickbacks, said the people.

The CBI had named Saxena as an accused in the first charge sheet. He remains an approver in a case probed by the Enforcement Directorate, which has moved the court seeking revocation of the approver status alleging that he had misled it. The directorate is investigating alleged money laundering linked to the deal to purchase helicopters for the air force to carry VVIP passengers.

It has been alleged that witness-turned-accused Kunhikrishnan was paid nearly Rs 97 lakh by middleman Christian Michel for extracting confidential information from the Ministry of Defence and the government regarding the deal. Kunhikrishnan had formed his own company after exiting AgustaWestland and was allegedly paid money in the garb of “consultancy charges” for procuring confidential information.

Goyal is alleged to have signed and forged key documents involved in the creation of shell companies. Saponaro, the agency has alleged, was fully aware that Michel was paid as a middleman to extract confidential information on the chopper deal, in violation of the contract framed by the Indian government.

The charge sheet also elaborates on the role of two “entry operators” from Kolkata who allegedly facilitated creation of entities for the circulation of the “proceeds of crime”. It has named the duo, Narendra Kumar Jain and Rajesh Kumar Jain, as accused.

Khaitan and Michel had denied allegations against them.

ET on September 2 reported that the CBI’s latest charge sheet included several hundred documents obtained through letters rogatory from abroad, nearly 300 witnesses and forensic laboratory reports. The agency has received “crucial” documents from Swiss and Italian authorities in response to the LRs, the people said.

In its supplementary charge sheet, the investigative agency has also informed the court that the probe was ongoing to find out the “beneficiaries” of the alleged kickbacks paid to swing the deal. The chopper deal, which was later cancelled, was signed when the Congress-led UPA was in power. No politician has so far been charged in the case.