AgustaWestland chopper deal: ED may summon retired Air Marshal again

ED investigators probing the AgustaWestland VVIP chopper deal are likely to summon retired Air Marshal Gautam Nayyar once again for questioning in connection with the case.

Enforcement Directorate (ED) investigators probing the AgustaWestland VVIP chopper deal are likely to summon retired Air Marshal Gautam Nayyar once again for questioning in connection with the case, sources said.

The ED is awaiting a response to some queries it has sent to the Ministry of Defence (MoD) regarding Nayyar, and is likely to question him for a second time once the details sought are received.

The ED has written to the MoD seeking clarity on the nature of Nayyar’s work at the Air Headquarters. “We have asked them for details on what Nayyar was handling when he was posted at the Air Headquarters in 2007, as well as what the rules are regarding the cooling-off period for IAF officers after retirement.

Nayyar retired from IAF in 2009, and by 2011 he was running a private firm called Diamond Air Maintenance and Offset Services Pvt Ltd, which received a substantial sum of money from accused middleman Christian Michel’s Dubai-based company Global Services,” said an ED source.

“Once we receive a response to our queries sent to the MoD, we are likely to call Nayyar for questioning once again,” said the source. Nayyar could not be reached for comments.

The ED had examined Nayyar for several hours on March 19 on his alleged links to Michel, and recorded his statement under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. According to sources, Nayyar had denied any wrongdoing in the VVIP chopper deal, and said he was not heading the IAF’s procurement division which handles new acquisitions.

ED investigators are probing favours allegedly extended by Michel to some retired government servants.

In this context, ED sources said Michel had made payments to Nayyar and his junior, retired Group Captain Shashi Bhushan Sharma, which includes reimbursements made in connection with some foreign travels.

A day after Nayyar was examined, ED had also examined Sharma on his alleged links to Michel. Sharma was also a director in Diamond Air Maintenance and Offset Services Pvt Ltd, that was incorporated in May 2011.

ED sources have alleged that Michel had paid for overseas trips of Nayyar and his family between 2010 and 2013.

Source:: Indian Express