VVIP choppers case: ED attaches assets of Tyagi family

New Delhi: Initiating fresh action in the AgustaWestland money laundering probe case, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached assets worth about Rs 7 crore alleged to be in the name of cousins of former IAF chief S P Tyagi.

Sources said the properties attached under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) are located in and around the national capital region and the estimated book value of the assets is about Rs 7 crore.

About five immovable assets have been attached as part of the fresh orders and they are in the name of the family members of ex-IAF chief Tyagi, they said.

The ED has been probing the VVIP helicopters purchase under PMLA and has questioned Tyagi's cousin Sanjeev in the past.

The former Indian Air Force (IAF) chief has denied any wrongdoing in the purchase of 12 AgustaWestland choppers from Italy, a case being probed by CBI also.

The ED has also attached assets of a foreign-based middleman in the same case earlier.

It is in the pursuit to track Rs 400 crore of alleged bribe money which was purportedly paid as kickbacks for finalising the deal with the said company and later laundering these illicit funds.

The agency has booked Tyagi, his family members, European nationals Carlo Gerosa, Christian Michel and Guido Haschke, six companies? UK-based AgustaWestland, Italy-based Finmeccanica and Chandigarh-based IDS Infotech and Aeromatrix and one each based in Mauritius and Tunisia, and unknown persons in its criminal complaint under PMLA.