ED files chargesheet against Gautam Khaitan

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday filed a chargesheet against lawyer Gautam Khaitan before a special Delhi court in a money laundering and black money case.

In its chargesheet filed before Special Judge Arvind Kumar, the agency named four persons, including Gautam Khaitan and his wife Ritu Khaitan.

The agency had filed a money laundering case against Gautam Khaitan and others based on a case lodged by the Income Tax Department under the possession of black money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act.

Currently in judicial custody, Gautam Khaitan was arrested on January 25, a week after the Income Tax Department raided his offices and other properties in Delhi and the National Capital Region.

The ED has said that Gautam Khaitan was "controlling" the modus operandi and was responsible for routing money, misusing his connections and clients, including the ones inherited from his father, to launder money through a variety of accounts in Dubai, Mauritius, Singapore, Tunisia, Switzerland, the UK and India.

The ED officials said the accounts included those belonging to his undisclosed shell companies outside India.

Gautam Khaitan was earlier arrested in September 2014 for his alleged involvement in the AgustaWestland VVIP chopper deal.

He got bail in January 2015 and was re-arrested along with Sanjeev Tyagi, another accused in the case, on December 9, 2016, by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). He later secured bail.

The CBI chargesheet had described Gautam Khaitan as the brain behind the AgustaWestland deal.

--IANS

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