The Enforcement Directorate on Saturday filed a supplementary charge sheet against Ratul Puri, the nephew of Madhya Pradesh CM Kamal Nath, pertaining to a money laundering case linked to the AgustaWestland chopper scam. The charge sheet was filed before a special judge Arvind Kumar in Delhi Court.
The money laundering case was filed against Puri after the alleged irregularities in the purchase of 12 VVIP choppers from Italy-based Finmeccanica’s British subsidiary, AgustaWestland came to the fore.
On July 29, 2019, the ED had informed the Delhi court that Puri had received a certain amount in the AgustaWestland VVIP helicopter scam. As per the ED, Puri’s role came to the fore after Sushen Mohan Gupta, an alleged defence agent was arrested and Rajeev Saxena, another accused in the AgustaWestland case was deported on January 31 from UAE.
The report suggested that Puri’s foreign entities have directly benefitted from the proceeds of Interstellar Technologies Limited. Investigation reveals, he received funds from both money laundering chains involved in the case. The investigation points out to different incriminating ‘material evidence’ to establish the complicity of Puri whereas Gupta’s diary and emails recovered from Saxena exhibit that Puri received the proceeds of crime.
ED also claimed that Puri received the proceeds of crime from alleged middleman Christian Michel.
Puri had fled the ED office when he was being questioned in connection with the Agusta Westland chopper scandal. Puri escaped the agency’s office in Delhi on the pretext of using the washroom.
In a separate money laundering case, the Enforcement Directorate had filed a charge sheet against MP CM Kamal Nath’s nephew Ratul Puri and his company Moser Baer last month for alleged money laundering and bank fraud. As per reports, the ED charge sheet states that Puri and his company laundered money and misappropriated funds worth Rs 8000 crores.
Ratul Puri, his father Deepak Puri, and his mother Nita Puri (Kamal Nath’s sister) were booked by the ED in a Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) case in connection with a bank fraud case filed by the Central Bank of India. The ED case was based on the August 17 CBI FIR against Puri.
