AMN /
Enforcement Directorate has conducted searches at ten locations in Delhi, Mumbai and Hyderabad in connection with VVIP chopper scam. Sources said the ED has also freezed shares worth over 86 crore rupees owned by companies in Dubai, Mauritius and Singapore.
The deal pertained to purchase of 12 VVIP helicopters from Agusta Westland during UPA rule in which allegations of corruption had surfaced.
Several incriminating documents were seized during the searches from the premises of the firms and entities. The Enforcement Directorate had recently filed a fresh charge sheet in the case naming British national and alleged middlemen in the deal Christian Michel James as part of its probe. It had registered a Prevention of Money Laundering Act case in this regard in 2014 and named 21 people in its FIR. The ED and the CBI, which is also probing the case, had issued Letters Rogatory to multiple countries to gather more leads and evidence in this case.