AgustaWestland Case: ED arrests alleged middleman Sushen Gupta

The Enforcement Directorate on Monday arrested alleged middleman Sushen Mohan Gupta in the AgustaWestland VVIP Chopper scam case. Sushen will be produced in Delhi's Patiala House Court today. Gupta, officials said, has allegedly dealt in defence deals, including the AgustaWestland helicopters deal. The ED officials said Gupta's role in the case came to light on the basis of disclosures made by Rajiv Saxena. It is suspected that Gupta has in his possession some payment details in the purchase of VVIP choppers and the link is to be unravelled, they said. 

On Monday, Delhi court allowed Rajeev Saxena, an alleged middleman, to turn approver. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had earlier told the court that it has no objection with Saxena being allowed to turn approver as it would be very useful for the agency.

Saxena, who had sought to become an approver in the case, recorded his statement on March 6 during in-chamber proceedings after which the court sent the copies of his statement to the special judge hearing the case. He was earlier granted bail by the court on medical grounds after the perusal of reports submitted by AIIMS.

Saxena, director at two Dubai-based firms - UHY Saxena and Matrix Holdings - is one of the accused named in the charge sheet filed by ED in the Rs 3,600 crore AgustaWestland scam. Christian Michel, Guido Haschke and Carlo Gerosa are among other accused who are being questioned in connection with the bribery scandal in the AgustaWestland deal.

Earlier, Christian Michel was granted 15-minute time in a week to speak to his family and lawyers by a special CBI Court. Last week, India granted consular access to Michel, a British national who was brought here from the UAE last month in connection with the Rs 3,600-crore AgustaWestland chopper deal.

The British High Commission had sought consular access to Michel after he was arrested in the first week of December. Michel, 57, was brought to India following his extradition by the United Arab Emirates in connection with the chopper deal case. At present, he is lodged in the Tihar jail in New Delhi. Michel has denied the charges.

The ED, in its charge sheet filed against Michel in June 2016, had alleged that he had received 30 million euros (about Rs 225 crore) from AgustaWestland. The CBI, in its charge sheet, has alleged an estimated loss of 398.21 million euros (about Rs 2,666 crore) to the exchequer in the deal that was signed on February 8, 2010 for the supply of VVIP choppers worth 556.262 million euros.