New Delhi: Ratul Puri, nephew of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath, received money generated from the VVIP chopper deal scam, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) told a Delhi court, Monday.
ED made the allegations during the hearing of anticipatory bail application filed by Puri before special judge Arvind Kumar, who extended his interim protection from arrest by a day after the arguments on the application remained inconclusive.
Puri, chairman of Hindustan Powerprojects Pvt Ltd, had July 27 approached the court seeking anticipatory bail in the case, stating that he feared arrest.
Alleging political vendetta, senior advocate A M Singhvi, appearing for Puri, said that since two BJP lawmakers joined the ruling Congress party in Madhya Pradesh a few days ago the ED now wants to arrest Puri as his uncle is the Chief Minister of the state.
The court had Saturday granted Ratul Puri interim protection till Monday after the ED had sought time to argue the matter, with a direction to appear before the ED. The probe agency informed the court that Puri appeared before it Saturday and Sunday.
While opposing Puri’s application, the ED told the court that he was trying to ‘frustrate the investigation’ in the case. Officials had said Friday that Puri left after some time on the pretext of going to the washroom after he appeared before it for questioning in the case pertaining to the now scrapped Rs 3,600 crore deal with AgustaWestland.
ED further alleged that the probe has thrown light on his culpability in the case and his concerned foreign entities, in which proceeds of crime (money generated through crime) were received directly from Interstellar Technologies (a co-accused in the case).
“Investigation has revealed that Ratul Puri has received funds from both the chains of money laundering involved,” the ED said.
According to the ED, while one chain involved middleman Christian Michel James, the other belonged to Rajeev Saxena, a co-accused who recently turned approver in the case.
“Investigation has further revealed that the applicant (Ratul Puri), using the guise of shell companies in the name of others, accumulated proceeds of crime, which have been parked and later laundered to reach the desired beneficiaries, including himself,” it said.
The agency said that Puri was non-cooperative and evasive and if granted the relief, he may tamper with the investigation since he was an influential person.
PTI