Accused In AgustaWestland, Lawyer Gautam Khaitan Picked Up By ED For Laundering Black Money Through Foreign Accounts

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday (25 January 2019) took in custody, lawyer Gautam Khaitan, who is an accused in the AgustaWestland VVIP chopper case, for his alleged involvement in a new case relating to black money and money laundering, reports The Hindu.

The ED case against Khaitan pertains to violations of provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The matter stems from proceedings against him by the Income Tax (IT) Department under Section 51 of the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act, 2015. The department had over the last week conducted searches against him in this matter.

It is alleged that Khaitan was maintaining and using some foreign accounts unlawfully and is therefore suspected to have been stashing black money abroad.

The high profile lawyer’s latest trouble with the law follows the extradition of an alleged middleman in the AgustaWestland chopper deal Christian Michel from Dubai in December 2019; the interrogation of Michel is believed to have given new leads to the investigating authorities against Khaitan.

This is not the first time that Khaitan has been picked up by government sleuths; he was previously arrested by the ED and CBI a couple of years back as part of the AgustaWestland probe.

He had also been chargesheeted on that occasion and was out on bail prior to his fresh arrest.