More dirt in Verma probe,Tytler under CBI lens

Allen papers: Firm tells PMO arms dealer,Tytler son duped it of 1 mn

Congress leader Jagdish Tytler is under the scanner for alleged business links with arms dealer Abhishek Verma,who was recently arrested by the CBI for allegedly trying to bribe defence officials.

The latest set of documents supplied to the government by Vermas US-based former business associate C Edmonds Allen shows that Jagdish Tytlers fashion designer son Siddharth was involved in a telecom joint venture that the arms dealer entered into with a Cyprus-based company called Corewip.

This company has now complained to the Prime Ministers Office PMO alleging that Verma and Siddharth Tytler defrauded them of US 1.1 million.

The money,according to details supplied by Allen,was deposited in a bank account in the US,and was used by Verma to pay for the visit of two Romanian women to India in October 2008,shortly after the arms dealer received bail in the Navy war room leak case.

Allen has alleged that in October 2008,Tytler recommended,on the request of Vermas mother Veena Verma,a former member of Parliament,that the visas of the two Romanian women be expedited.

A letter written purportedly by Vermas mother on October 6,2008,to Indian ambassador Debashish Chakravarti in Bucharest is part of the documents received by CBI. In this letter,Vermas mother allegedly gave the reference of Tytler,and described the two Romanian women as friends of her son.

8230;We have invited them to visit India for a week/ten days during the festival season and to attend Dusshera celebrations at my residence on the 10 October 2008. I take complete responsibility of the above mentioned guests during the duration of their stay in India8230;, the letter says.

Story continues below this ad

When contacted by The Indian Express,Veena Verma said,I do not remember anything regarding such a letter. There was no conversation with Jagdish Tytler regarding the visas.

Tytler denied having business links with Verma. He told The Indian Express,I was not an MP in 2008.

I knew Abhishek because of his parents. I have been to Abhisheks house on many occasions such as birthdays,Diwali and on other festivals and may have met many people. It is absolutely wrong that I ever recommended a visa for anyone in Romania.

Tytler has earlier been examined by the CBI for allegedly acting as an arbitrator during the purchase of land by Ganton India,a firm controlled by Verma.

Story continues below this ad

Allens communication regarding the Congress leader is part of several tranches of documents that he has sent to the defence ministry,CBI and Enforcement Directorate since January this year. He has made a series of damning revelations,the most shocking of which has been the release of some of the Indian Air Forces deepest and best kept secrets,whose leak points to connivance between arms dealers and government officials at the highest levels. The Indian Express has been reporting in detail on the Allen documents.

In the light of the revelations,law enforcement agencies have stepped up their probe into foreign bank accounts held by Verma,and are in the process of sending letters rogatory to the US seeking details of the bank account of Ganton US. After scrutinising the Allen documents,CBI has established that the money allegedly paid by Swiss firm Rheinmetall Air Defence RAD to Verma to get it off the governments blacklist landed in this account.

Verma allegedly used the 1.5 million deposited in the account to pay the two Romanian women,whom he had hired to be models for a photoshoot at luxury hotels in Delhi and Kolkata.

CBI investigators suspect that the 1.1 million allegedly paid by Corewip to Verma for their telecom JV in India too was deposited in this account.

Story continues below this ad

Corewips complaint to the PMO alleges that Verma,with the help of Siddharth Tytler,usurped this money by forging documents,and used it to fund his farm house and living expenses,and entertain defence officials to obtain secret documents.

Corewips complaint was first received by the Economic Offences Wing of the Delhi Police in November 2011,but the police allegedly took no action. A senior executive from Corewip told the The Indian Express that he met with Jagdish Tytler at his residence in New Delhi in 2009,during which the Congress leader recommended that the company should do business with Verma. This meeting,the executive said,was arranged by Verma.

Tytler denied meeting any executive from Corewip. My son was only a shareholder in the company where he invested Rs 50,000 on my suggestion. The firm was being controlled by one Arjun Arora. My name is being dragged into this to divert attention, he said.

The ED has,meanwhile,sent a questionnaire to Allen,seeking clarifications on his allegations.