CBI reaches Mauritius to probe Agusta bribe

Members of the CBI’s Special Investigation Team (SIT), formed to investigate the AgustaWestland VVIP helicopter deal, have reached Mauritius to probe the money trail of 50 million euros that had been allegedly paid in bribes. Highly placed sources in the CBI have confirmed to The Sunday Guardian that the bribe money had been routed through various firms across eight countries and the CBI & ED investigators have found that Delhi based lawyer Gautam Khaitan allegedly routed the kickbacks money using shell companies through the island nation. One such company floated by Khaitan was Interstellar Technologies in Mauritius. The CBI spokesperson didn’t reply to text messages sent by this correspondent seeking official confirmation and details of the visit by the CBI SIT team. In July this year, a two-member team of the SIT of the CBI had visited Italy to meet the Italian prosecutors and the police officers who were involved in the investigations for further details. It was a four-day visit. The SIT formed by the CBI is headed by an additional director rank officer and is investigating the Rs 3,700-crore deal for the helicopters signed during UPA’s A.K. Antony’s tenure as Defence Minister. Simultaneously, a two-member ED team led by ED chief Karnal Singh is reaching  Switzerland to hold meetings with the Swiss authorities on the issue of expeditious execution.