Gandhi family has nothing to do with AgustaWestland case: Antony

Former Defence Minister AK Antony on Thursday said that it was the Congress party which initiated a probe into the AgustaWestland case and that the Gandhi family is not even remotely related with case.

Antony, a Congress Working Committee member, also accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of spreading false propaganda in the case.

Addressing the media, Antyony said, "In AgustaWestland case, we took the decision to probe. The probe was our initiative, this case has nothing to do with the Gandhi family. This is a false propaganda by BJP."

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday filed a fresh chargesheet in a the Delhi court accusing former AgustaWestland and Finmeccanica directors Giuseppe Orsi and Bruno Spagnolini and ex-IAF chief SP Tyagi of money laundering in the VVIP chopper bribery scam case.

The chargesheet, filed before special judge Arvind Kumar in the Patiala House Court will be taken up for consideration on July 20.

The investigation conducted and various documents collected so far revealed that Agusta Westland International Ltd., U.K. paid an amount of Euro 58 million as kickbacks through Gordian Services Sarl, Tunisia and IDS Sarl, Tunisia.

These companies further siphoned off the said money in the name of consultancy contracts to the Interstellar Technologies Ltd., Mauritius and others, which were further transferred to UHY Saxena, Dubai, Matrix Holdings Ltd. Dubai and others.