AgustaWestland: ED Can’t Find a Rahul Connection

Agencies shooting in dark, says no evidence of kickbacks against Rahul Gandhi so far in the AgustaWestland scam

Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi. (Photo: Altered by The Quint)

The investigating agencies are still sweating trying to find evidence to nail the Gandhis in the AgustaWestland scam.

Based on BJP MP Kirit Somaiya’s complaint, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) questioned the Emaar MGF Managing Director Shravan Gupta on 2 May. According to ED sources, the investigation revealed that Emaar MGF sold the two shops to Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi at higher than market price during that period – a setback in trying to prove he received undue benefit from the company.

The documents show that the market rate of the shop was Rs 8,800 per square foot during that period. And Rahul Gandhi purchased the same shop at a higher price of Rs 9,750 per square foot. So practically, as of now we don’t have any evidence to prove that he got favour from MGF Emaar, though the investigation is on.

Senior Official, Enforcement Directorate

Kirit Somaiya has claimed the alleged kickbacks were paid via Emaar MGF in the VVIP chopper deal, but Emaar MFG MD Gupta denied all such accusations during his interrogation by the ED officials.

AgustaWestland reportedly paid bribes to top Congress leaders to bag a Rs 3,600 crore deal. (Photo: Reuters)

The two shops in question at the Metropolitan Mall in Saket, South Delhi – measuring 996.98 sq ft and 514.44 sq ft – were sold to Gandhi for about Rs 1.4 crore at the Rs 9,750 per sq ft rate. MGF sold these shops to Gandhi in December 2005, according to the investigators.

Gupta presented all the relevant documents to the investigators and said that all transactions were transparent.

The company has provided us with a list of shops which were sold during and after 2005. It shows that other buyers got shops at lower rates than Gandhi.

Senior Official, ED

Earlier, the company had released a statement saying that ‘all allegations against the company as levied by Kirit Somaiya are completely false, baseless and malicious in nature.’

According to Somaiya, Rahul Gandhi received kickbacks in the purchase of the shops, and later rented them out at exorbitant prices. According to ANI, Gandhi’s aide Kanishka Singh on Friday served Somaiya a legal notice asking him to deliver an unconditional apology within three days, or face a defamation suit.