VVIP chopper scam: ED arrests Ratul Puri in money laundering case

New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate Wednesday arrested Ratul Puri, nephew of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath, in a money laundering case related to the AgustaWestland chopper scam.

Puri, already in judicial custody in a separate money laundering case related to an alleged bank loan fraud, was produced before a Delhi court in pursuance to the production warrant issued against him.

After he was arrested by the ED, the court remanded Puri to one-day judicial custody and said it would hear on Thursday the probe agency’s plea seeking his custodial interrogation in the money laundering case related to the VVIP chopper scam.

Puri had earlier moved an application in the court seeking to surrender in the case.

The money laundering case was lodged following alleged irregularities in purchase of 12 VVIP choppers from Italy-based Finmeccanica’s British subsidiary, AgustaWestland.