New Delhi: A special court here ‘dismissed’ the bail plea of aviation lobbyist Deepak Talwar and issued a non-bailable warrant (NBW) against his son Aditya Talwar in a money laundering probe related to alleged irregularities in the Indian aviation sector during the UPA regime, the ED said Wednesday.
The two actions came about after the court ‘examined’ the charge sheet or the prosecution compliant filed by the probe agency against the two in March under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
“The court April 29 has also taken cognisance of offence against Deepak Talwar in the airline seat allocation scam being probed by the Enforcement Directorate under the PMLA,” it said.
As Aditya has not joined the probe despite ‘several summons’ and is currently based abroad, the court also issued the NBW against him, sources said. The agency, meanwhile, is also questioning Deepak’s wife, Deepa Talwar, in the case and she has been quizzed under the anti-money laundering law at least on three separate occasions, the sources informed. They said the chargesheet also mentions few email exchanges that took place between Deepak and a former civil aviation minister.
The ED had filed a criminal case in August 2017 on the basis of a CBI FIR against officials of the Ministry of Civil Aviation, NACIL, Air India and unknown private persons.
“Investigation has revealed that Deepak Talwar has been engaged in liaisoning/lobbying with politicians, ministers, other public servants and officials of Ministry of Civil Aviation for Emirates, Air Arabia and Qatar for securing undue benefits for them. He illegally managed to secure favourable traffic rights for these airlines during 2008-09 at the cost of the national carrier, Air India,” the ED claimed in its chargesheet.
It was also revealed that in lieu of securing favourable traffic rights, these airlines made payments to the tune of Rs 272 crore to Deepak during 2008-09.
“He created a web of his own entities and used companies of his son, Aditya Talwar, in India and international offshore havens to launder Rs 272 crore received from foreign airlines. Part of these payments were made to a bank account in Bank of Singapore belonging to a company Asiafield Limited, registered in the British Virgin Islands and beneficially owned by Deepak Talwar,” the agency said in a statement.