Court rejects Gautam Khaitan's bail plea

New Delhi: A Delhi court of Special Judge Arvind Kumar, here on Tuesday, rejected the bail plea of Gautam Khaitan, a lawyer, who was arrested in connection with a money laundering case.

Opposing his plea, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) said Khaitan was "controlling" the modus operandi and was responsible for routing money.

He was misusing his connections and clients, including the ones inherited from his father, to launder money through a variety of accounts in Dubai, Mauritius, Singapore, Tunisia, Switzerland, the UK and India, it said.

The ED officials said the accounts included those belonging to his undisclosed shell companies outside India.

Khaitan, in judicial custody, was arrested on January 25, a week after the Income Tax Department conducted raids on his offices and various other properties in Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR).

Khaitan was earlier arrested in September 2014 for his alleged involvement in the AgustaWestland VVIP chopper deal.

He got bail in January 2015 and was again arrested along with Sanjeev Tyagi, another accused in the case, on December 9, 2016, by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). He later secured bail.

The CBI charge sheet had described Khaitan as the brain behind the AgustaWestland chopper deal.