ED files chargesheet against Ratul Puri in AgustaWestland case

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday filed a supplementary chargesheet against businessman Ratul Puri in Rs 3,600 crore AgustaWestland VVIP chopper deal.

The chargesheet was filed by ED's counsel Naveen Kumar Matta before Special Judge Arvind Kumar's court which is slated to take up the matter post-lunch at around 2 pm.

This is the ED's sixth supplementary chargesheet in the case and the first against Puri, the nephew of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath.

Besides Puri, one more person has been named in the chargesheet in the money laundering court case registered by the ED.

The businessman is currently lodged in Tihar jail in judicial custody which ends today.

Puri was arrested by the ED on September 3 for alleged involvement in receiving kickbacks in the deal through his companies.

The probe agency has alleged that accounts associated with firms owned and operated by Puri were used to receive kickbacks and launder money in the chopper deal.

The case pertains to alleged irregularities in the purchase of 12 VVIP choppers from Italy-based Finmeccanica's British subsidiary AgustaWestland.

The deal was scrapped by the NDA government in 2014 over the alleged breach of contractual obligations and charges of payment of kickbacks for securing the deal.