Rajiv Saxena to turn approver in AgustaWestland case

New Delhi, Mar 25: The CBI special court on Monday allowed alleged middleman Rajiv Saxena to turn approver in the Rs 3,600-crore AgustaWestland scam case.

The ED, earlier this month, supported the plea of Rajiv Saxena to become an approver in AgustaWestland case. "He will be very useful. That is why supporting his plea," said ED in the court while supporting Saxena's plea. He is an accused in AgustaWestland case.

Saxena, who has maintained that he had a minimal role in the VVIP chopper scam case and had only be acting as a front for another beneficiary, is considered by the authorities to be key tounravelingg the bribe trail in the matter.

The probe agency was hopeful that Saxena will reveal significant details on the role of Christian Michel and Gautam Khaitan who are accused in the AgustaWestland VVIP chopper deal.

The ED believes that Saxena also has information on the bribe that was paid to certain politicians in India, besides the officials of the Indian Air Force (IAF) and bureaucrats.

According to the ED, three of Rajiv Saxena's companies--Intersellar Technologies (Mauritius), UHY Saxena (Dubai) and Matrix Holding (Dubai) received kickbacks from Gordian Sarl (Tunisia) and IDS Technologies (Tunisia), firms that were set up by AgustaWestland accused Gautam Khaitan.