ED arrests AgustaWestland scam accused Gautam Khaitan in fresh money laundering case

Khaitan was allegedly involved in laundering money using multiple bank accounts. He is accused of routing money through countries like Dubai, UK, Zambia, Tunisia, Kenya, Mauritius, Singapore, Switzerland and others. He has been arrested under the Black Money Act by the ED.

Gautam Khaitan

New Delhi: The enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday arrested lawyer Gautam Khaitan, a co-accused in the AgustaWestland case, for money laundering. The Income Tax department had carried out raids at multiple locations across India on January 19. Gautam Khaitan was reportedly in Zambia at the time. Khaitan was allegedly involved in laundering money using multiple bank accounts. He is accused of routing money through countries like Dubai, UK, Zambia, Tunisia, Kenya, Mauritius, Singapore, Switzerland and others. He has been arrested under the Black Money Act by the ED. Officials said that they had Khaitan placed under arrest Friday night by agency sleuths under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), he was currently out on bail. Last week, the Income Tax Department had carried out searches against him in this new case filed by the Income Tax Department under the anti-black money law. The Income Tax Department filed a case against him under Section 51 of the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act, 2015. According to officials, Khaitan has allegedly been operating and holding a number of foreign accounts illegally. The Delhi-based businessman was an ex-board member of Chandigarh-based Aeromatrix which was allegedly a front company for the financial dealings in the Rs 3,600-crore AgustaWestland chopper deal. He was the first person to be arrested by ED on September 23, 2014 for allegedly laundering bribe money in the chopper deal.