Chopper scam: ED files charge sheet against Ratul Puri in money laundering case

The
Enforcement Directorate filed a supplementary charge sheet on Saturday before a
Delhi court against Ratul Puri, nephew of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal
Nath, in a money laundering case related to the alleged AgustaWestland chopper
scam.

The charge
sheet was filed before special judge Arvind Kumar. The agency arrested Puri on
September 4 and he is currently in judicial custody.

The money
laundering case was lodged following alleged irregularities in the purchase of
12 VVIP choppers from Italy-based Finmeccanica’s British subsidiary,
AgustaWestland.

Puri was
earlier arrested in another case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act
(PMLA) for alleged bank fraud after he appeared before the central probe agency
here in the chopper scam after it had slapped a fresh criminal case against him
and others, taking notice of a CBI FIR.

The PMLA
case emerged from a CBI FIR of August 17, in which Ratul Puri, his father
Deepak Puri, mother Nita (Kamal Nath’s sister) and others were booked in
connection with a Rs 354-crore bank fraud case filed by the Central Bank of
India.