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    The curious case of Rajiv Saxena, accused turned approver in VVIP chopper scam

    Synopsis

    Rajiv Saxena, the accused-turned-approver in the ₹3,600 crore VVIP chopper scandal — if one were to go by the accounts of CBI and ED.

    delhihcAgencies
    Last week, the Delhi HC turned down a plea by ED to revoke Saxena’s approver status, which was granted on March 25 last year.
    New Delhi: What is common between a dossier received from Mauritius, forensic analysis of data and scrutiny of WhatsApp chats?

    Rajiv Saxena, the accused-turned-approver in the ₹3,600 crore VVIP chopper scandal — if one were to go by the accounts of CBI and ED.

    A close analysis of these disparate data points helped investigators smell a rat in “disclosures” made by Saxena, who was deported from Dubai in January last year.

    Last week, the Delhi HC turned down a plea by ED to revoke Saxena’s approver status, which was granted on March 25 last year.

    ED, which will seek to discredit Saxena’s statements during trial, claims it has evidence to substantiate that Saxena concealed and withheld information at the instance of co-accused, especially Ratul Puri, the nephew of ex-MP CM Kamal Nath. ET has pieced together the inside story of the probe, which made ED inform the court that Saxena was “playing one agency against the other”.

    CBI informed ED about Saxena’s signatures and Mauritius dossier.

    Documents received through a letter rogatory from Mauritius contained one titled “Consent to act as Director” of M/s Interstellar Technologies Ltd, dated June 20, 2000, bearing Saxena’s signatures.

    When questioned about the same in February last year, Saxena denied knowledge, claiming that the document had been misused by Gautam Khaitan (lawyer and co-accused). Investigation and information from CBI, however, revealed to ED that the signatures belonged to Saxena.

    Saxena is alleged to have operated Interstellar, a company alleged to have received proceeds of crime worth 12.4 million euros which were routed for “payment of bribes” to influential people, including politicians and bureaucrats in India to tilt the VVIP chopper deal in favour of AgustaWestland. The middleman in the deal, Christian Michel James, also allegedly routed bribe money to a company through Interstellar.

    ED alleged that Saxena supplied “selective information and documents to earn the trust of the ED and the counsels”. After receiving a “pardon” from court in March last year, Saxena was in touch with co-accused, including Puri, and has been shielding them to prevent a “successful prosecution”, ED alleged. ED also alleged Puri told Saxena to give only selective information. Saxena, according to ED, has admitted that he was pressurized by Puri.

    ED told a local court that Saxena submitted a folder (May 14, 2019) titled “Ratul Puri summary of transactions USD account”, which when compared with a backup of emails provided by him on July 23, 2019, revealed that most emails crucial to the probe had not been submitted by him earlier. When questioned, Saxena allegedly told ED that Puri had dissuaded him from disclosing that the payments he had received from Global Services FZE was on Puri’s instructions.

    Puri also asked him not to provide any information, documents or statement that linked his father or uncle in any matter, Saxena claimed, adding it was his lawyer who shared the details with Puri, ED claimed. Not only was Saxena in direct touch, but his lawyers were also in touch with Puri, in an attempt to “mislead” the agency, ED claimed.

    Forensic analysis of data in two laptops supplied by Saxena revealed the presence of data that the ED had repeatedly sought. The same was, however, deleted before the laptops were handed over to the agency. While some of the deleted data was recovered, other files could not be opened or were password protected, ED said. Saxena has denied allegations of withholding information, while Puri has categorically denied his involvement in the VVIP chopper scandal.

    ED alleged within days of moving for cancellation of his bail on July 15, 2019, Saxena submitted documents that he had earlier denied any knowledge of. Saxena submitted a dump of email id “rs@matrixgroupuae.com” which contained emails establishing his “link” with Puri. Also, Saxena allegedly shared documents pertaining to the incorporation of shell companies and emails used for hawala transfers. Saxena started giving information immediately after his brother-in-law was summoned for questioning, ED said.

    The agency also claimed that in July last year, Saxena visited Mumbai without informing it. While Saxena claimed it was for an “emergency”, ED cited a doctor who said that Saxena’s condition was not serious. ED claimed that it scrutinised Saxena’s WhatsApp chats, which revealed that he had lied about visiting Mumbai for a medical check-up.


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