Delhi court summons Gautam Khaitan, his wife

New Delhi, March 25 (IANS) A Delhi court on Monday issued summons to lawyer Gautam Khaitan, his wife and two companies, in a money laundering and black money case.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had filed a money laundering case against Khaitan and others based on a case lodged by the Income Tax Department under the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act, 2015

Currently in judicial custody, Khaitan was arrested on January 25, a week after the I-T Department searched his offices and other properties in Delhi and the National Capital Region.

Taking cognisance of the ED charge sheet, the court asked Khaitan's wife Ritu Khaitan and two companies -- Ismax and Windfor -- to appear before it as accused in the case on May 4.

The companies will be represented by their authorised representatives.

The ED has said Khaitan was "controlling" the modus operandi and was responsible for routing money, 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.

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

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

He received bail in January 2015 and was re-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 deal.