AgustaWestland scam: Delhi lawyer Gautam Khaitan to turn approver?

Arrested in 2014 for allegedly laundering bribe money in AgustaWestland deal, Delhi lawyer Gautam Khaitan, may be considering turning an approver in the case, according to India Today. The BJP has accused the Congress of corruption in the chopper scam, targeting its president Sonia Gandhi in the recently concluded Parliament session. [caption id=“attachment_2786760” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. Reuters[/caption] Khaitan, who is an advocate and a former Board member of company Aeromatrix which was allegedly used to route bribe amount, is named in the CBI FIR as one of the accused. He is currently out on bail. On 4 May, he had accepted that he had set up a shell company to receive money from the aviation firm. On 6 May the CBI had claimed that Khaitan had admitted to taking payments from Guido Haschke and Carlo Gerosa, middlemen in the AgustaWestland Chopper deal, but rejected allegations that it was part of any kickbacks. Khaitan and former Deputy Air Chief NV Tyagi were examined by CBI in connection with AgustaWestland chopper deal, according to a PTI report. The sources said while Khaitan accepted money was received from Gerosa and Haschke he denied that it was part of kick backs to clinch the deal. The focus of the questioning was his alleged links with Italian middlemen — Carlo Gerosa and Guido Haschkhe, the sources said. With inputs from PTI