New Delhi: In a major boost to agencies probing high-profile corruption cases, a Dubai-based businessman, Rajeev Shamsher Bahadur Saxena and lobbyist Deepak Talwar were arrested by the Enforcement Directorate here late early Thursday morning after being deported from the UAE.
The ED said Saxena wanted in Rs 3,600 crore AgustaWestland VVIP choppers money laundering case and Talwar wanted by the ED and the CBI in a case of misusing over Rs 90 crore taken through the foreign funding route, were brought in a special plane to Delhi around 1:30am.
The agency has taken their custody and they will be produced before a court here later Thursday, ED officials said. Both of them were picked by Dubai authorities, Wednesday ‘in assistance’ to a request made by Indian agencies, they added.
A co-accused and alleged middleman in this case, British national Christian James Michel was recently extradited from Dubai to India (in December last year). He is currently in judicial custody.
Saxena’s lawyers alleged that no extradition proceedings were started against him in the UAE and he was not allowed to access his family or lawyers while being sent to India.
Talwar has been charged with criminal conspiracy, forgery and under various sections of the FCRA for allegedly diverting Rs 90.72 crore worth of foreign funds meant for ambulances and other articles received by his NGO from Europe’s leading missile manufacturing company. His role in some aviation deals during the UPA government’s regime is also under scanner.
Talwar has been booked by the ED and the CBI in criminal cases of corruption, even as the Income Tax Department has charged him with tax evasion.
The ED had summoned Saxena, a resident of Palm Jumeirah in Dubai, multiple times in the case and had arrested his wife Shivani Saxena from the Chennai airport in July, 2017. She is now out on bail.
The ED had alleged that Rajeev, his wife and their two Dubai-based firms – ‘MS UHY Saxena, Dubai’ and ‘Ms Matrix Holdings’ – routed ‘the proceeds of crime and further layered and integrated in buying the immovable properties/shares among others’. The ED had stated that its probe found that ‘Agusta Westland International Ltd, UK paid an amount of Euro 58 million as kickbacks through Gordian Services Sarl, Tunisia and IDS Sarl, Tunisia to the companies belonging to Saxena’.
With Saxena failing to turn up in spite of the summons sent by the ED, it had named him in its chargesheet filed in this case and had issued a non-bailable warrant against him.
PTI
