PTI

New Delhi, September 1

The CBI has arrested Delhi-based lawyer Gautam Khaitan within the case of alleged fee paid by Brazilian plane producer Embraer to a UK-based NRI intermediary to swing a three-aircraft take care of the DRDO value USD 210 million in its favour in 2008, officers mentioned Thursday.

The CBI arrested Khaitan final week, practically six years after registering an FIR on the idea of a Brazilian newspaper report exposing alleged kickbacks of USD 5.76 million paid by the corporate within the deal for absolutely customised EMB-145 plane for the DRDO which have been to be fitted with airborne early warning and management (AEW&C) system, they mentioned.

Khaitan, who was additionally charge-sheeted within the Agusta Westland VVIP Chopper buy case, was questioned for practically 4 days by CBI officers after his arrest on August 25. He was subsequently despatched to judicial custody, they mentioned.

The CBI suspects that Khaitan was instrumental in shifting the alleged bribe cash to India by means of circuitous transaction utilizing completely different firms overseas and in India, they mentioned.

The company had booked UK-based arms seller Vipin Khanna and two firms—Brazil-based Embraer and Singapore-based Interdev Pte Ltd—in reference to the alleged corruption within the deal that was inked on July 3, 2008.

It is alleged that the kickbacks have been allegedly routed from subsidiaries of Embraer to Khanna by means of Interdev for use for influencing officers within the Defence Ministry and the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).

The company had registered a preliminary enquiry in September, 2016 after the report in a Brazilian newspaper alleged that Embraer had used the companies of middlemen to clinch offers in Saudi Arabia and India.

According to defence procurement guidelines of India, middlemen are strictly barred in such offers.

The CBI preliminary enquiry had discovered that attributable to alleged mediation by Khanna, DRDO officers moved a proposal for the acquisition of plane from Embraer on a single vendor foundation after which the enquiry was transformed into an FIR in October, 2016.

“It was also alleged that in lieu of facilitating the agreement/deal between Brazil-based firm and DRDO (India), the firm paid an amount of USD 5.76 million (approx) to the said middleman (Khanna) through Singapore-based company during the year 2009,” the CBI spokesperson had mentioned after submitting of the FIR.