MP CM’s nephew asked friend to destroy evidence: ED
NEWDELHI:One of the charges the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has made against businessman Ratul Puri, Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath’s nephew, is that he tried to destroy evidence of wrongdoing in the ~3,600-crore deal for the purchase of AugustaWestland helicopters
In the 93-page supplementary charge sheet against Puri filed in court on Saturday, the ED gives details about how the antimoney laundering agency received a tip-off to that effect which led it to raid the residence of his friend Niamat Singh, a lawyer by profession, on September 7, 2019.
Singh, who has been spotted frequently with the 47- year-old promoter of Hindustan Power Projects Limited, is described in the charge sheet as being “in a relationship (according to judicial documents)” with Puri.
During the raid, the ED found a document “whereby instructions were being passed to destroy evidence.’’ The charge sheet says the ED had reason to believe that Singh burnt documents because the agency managed to “recover ashes.’’
That’s not the only recovery that ED says it made at Singh’s residence. The agency’s detectives also found print-outs of emails that it claims link Puri to the corporate entities allegedly created to park money received as kickbacks in the AugustaWestland deal, which it used to tie the former owner of Moser Baer Ltd to several financial transactions.
One of the main allegations against Puri is that he received a total of $150,000 from a chargesheeted entity called Intersteller that, the Enforcement Directorate claims, received in kickbacks from IDS Tunisia, which in turn received it from AgustaWestland. Soon after this evidence was found, Enforcement Directorate moved court to ensure that Singh was no longer allowed to meet Puri.
The agency told the court that it believes Singh, who used to work with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), “was assisting accused Puri in hiding evidences apart from destruction of the same.’’
ED’s charge sheet documents how the Puri would not readily part with any information. While he’s been in custody, Singh has been going to his office to handle his business and looking after his legal affairs, the agency claims.
When he was first arrested on August 20, she couldn’t meet him because of her not being a family member although she was on Puri’s list of people allowed to meet him at his request.
The ED has now barred such contact through a special application moved in court.
When HT contacted Puri’s lawyer Vijay Aggarwal, he declined to comment on the case. A request to speak to Singh through the lawyer was denied.
The AugustaWestland case centres on allegations that bribes were paid to middlemen, perhaps even to politicians. when India agreed to buy purchase 12 helicopters from Italian defence manufacturer Finmeccanica (now known as the Leonardo group).
The helicopters, manufactured by Finmeccanica’s British subsidiary AugustaWestland were meant to ferry VVIPs like the President, vice-president, Prime Minister and other dignitaries. The deal, cleared by the then United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government in 2010, was scrapped in 2014 over alleged breach of contractual obligations and charges of payment of kickbacks.