I’m innocent, but will cooperate in money laundering probe, says ex-Min
The ED has summoned senior NCP leader and former Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel for questioning at its office here at 11 am on Thursday in a money laundering probe related to alleged losses suffered by national carrier Air India in a multi-crore aviation scam during the UPA Government.
Patel, a Rajya Sabha member, on Saturday claimed innocence and said that he would be happy to cooperate with the agency in its probe into the money laundering allegation.
Patel’s summoning is the first major action against a politician in the multi-crore aviation scam. Patel needs to be put through certain revelations made by arrested aviation lobbyist Deepak Talwar and specific evidence gathered by the agency during the probe into the money laundering case, sources said.
The ED has also asked Patel to bring along certain documents related to his personal and official finances on the day of deposition, the sources said.
Patel, also the president of All India Football Federation, said in Mumbai that he will be happy to cooperate with the ED so that the agency understands the “complexities” of the aviation sector.
Patel, 62, has represented the Gondia-Bhandara seat of Maharashtra in Parliament four times and was the Civil Aviation Minister in 2004 during the UPA Government led by Manmohan Singh.
He was also appointed Cabinet Minister for Heavy Industries in 2011 in UPA-II.
The ED had recently filed a chargesheet in the case against Deepak Talwar. It alleged that Talwar was in regular touch with Patel.
The ED claimed in the chargesheet that Talwar, who has been arrested, allegedly finalised various communications addressed to Patel on behalf of Emirates and Air Arabia.
“There is evidence including e-mail conversations between Deepak and Patel,” the ED said in its chargesheet.
According to the chargesheet, the investigation revealed that Talwar obtained undue favours for the private airlines using his contacts in the Civil Aviation Ministry.
Talwar had been engaged in liasioning/lobbying with politicians, ministers, other public servants and officials of Ministry of Civil Aviation for Emirates, Air Arabia and Qatar for securing undue benefits for them, according to the chargesheet.
“He (Talwar) illegally managed to secure favourable traffic rights for these airlines during 2008-09 at the cost of the national carrier, Air India,” the ED alleged.
In lieu of securing favourable traffic rights, these airlines made payments to the tune of `272 crore to Talwar during 2008-09, the ED alleged in the chargehseet.
“He created a web of his own entities and used companies of his son, Aditya Talwar, in India and international offshore havens to launder `272 crore received from foreign airlines. Part of these payments were made to a bank account in Bank of Singapore belonging to a company Asiafield Limited, registered in the British Virgin Islands and beneficially owned by Deepak Talwar,” the agency had said in a statement.
A non-bailable warrant is pending against Aditya Talwar who has been evading investigation.
The ED had told the court earlier that it was trying to find out the names of officials of the Ministry of Civil Aviation, National Aviation Company of India Ltd (NACIL) and Air India, who favoured foreign airlines, including Qatar Airways, Emirates and Air Arabia, by making the national carrier give up profit-making routes and timings and leading to losses to the public sector company.
The ED had booked Deepak Talwar in August 2017 under Prevention of Money Laundering Act. Talwar is also facing a corruption case being probed by the CBI besides a tax evasion case by the Income Tax Department.
Talwar was arrested by the ED earlier this year after he was deported from Dubai.
