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What TV doesn't, print can't; we deliver.
NEW DELHI: Former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath’s son Bakul had dashed to Las Vegas on a private chopper in June 2011 with the help of tainted nephew of the top Congress leader for a vacation, the sensational files from the credit card statement found in the probe into Rs 3,600-crore AgustaWestland VVIP chopper deal have said.
ED’s sixth supplementary charge sheet, a copy of which is with The New Indian, has said that one Rajiv Saxena, who is an accused-turned-approver in the case, provided Ratul Puri, the nephew of Nath, with an American Express Credit Card. The investigators have said that Puri used an email id [email protected] to make these transactions. Staying in Dubai, Saxena was extradited by the Indian government from the UAE on January 31, 2019, and arrested by the agency in the probe into the AW case. The involvement of Nath’s son and nephew have brought fresh spotlight into the probe and the alleged money laundering.
ED had said ,”Saxena is a hawala operator who runs accommodation entry business in Dubai through numerous companies, known as Matrix group companies, and has laundered proceeds of crime in the cases of AgustaWestland chopper scam (linked to purchase of VVIP choppers by India) and Moser Baer ( a company run by Ratul Puri) bank fraud case.”
“From the emails seized from the house of Niamat Singh (a close confidante of Puri) during the search on September 7, 2019, it is seen that the email id [email protected] has been used to book hotel rooms for a trip by Puri from June 21 to 26, 2011,” the fresh charges by ED have said.
In the email, Puri wrote to one Elva Kou of Wynn Los Vega that he would be visiting, with his wife, three children and their nanny.
“The trip was undertaken in a private jet with his cousin Bakul Nath, Simran Nath, Mohan Puri and a couple of other friends as evidenced from the mails,” ED has said.
ED further said that Puri’s wife Kavita admitted to have undertaken this foreign trip along with the kids and Simran and Bakul Nath. “
ED also said that Puri used his Amex Card given by Saxena during the trip which shows payments of USD 14,395 on June 26, 2011.
ED also said that it is evident from the number of emails exchanged between Elva Kou and Puri on [email protected] that they knew each other well and Puri was a regular client as there are various other emails wherein Puri has sought transfer of funds available at Wynn Las Vegas into his account to Bakul Nath, his cousin, and Vinella Jain, a friend.
Puri was arrested by the ED in connection with the case in 2019 and was released on bail.
He is also being probed by the CBI and the ED in connection with a bank fraud case involving Moser Baer case.
