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NEW DELHI — The Enforcement Directorate has secured legal backing in its money laundering probe connected to the AgustaWestland VVIP helicopter deal, after the Appellate Tribunal under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act upheld the attachment of properties valued at Rs 16.58 crore belonging to former Emaar MGF Land head Shravan Gupta. Rejecting Gupta’s appeal on November 4, the tribunal ruled that assets acquired decades prior to the commission of an alleged offence can be attached under PMLA, provided the investigating agency is unable to access the direct proceeds of crime.
Tribunal Dismisses Pre-Crime Acquisition Defense
Gupta had challenged the provisional attachment by arguing that the properties had been in his lawful possession for over 36 years, purchased long before the helicopter deal transpired. He contended that assets with no direct link to alleged kickbacks or illicit transactions could not be classified as proceeds of crime, asserting that attaching untainted holdings exceeded the statutory framework of the anti-money laundering law.
The tribunal rejected this interpretation, observing that restricting attachments strictly to properties purchased directly with tainted funds would defeat the core purpose of the legislation. The bench noted that an accused could otherwise deliberately place direct proceeds beyond the reach of authorities while shielding their untainted assets. Consequently, the tribunal affirmed that equivalent assets held legally or prior to the offence can be subjected to attachment when direct proceeds remain inaccessible.
Alleged Kickback Routing Through Offshore Corporate Channels
The enforcement agency alleges that Gupta received approximately Rs 28.70 crore in bribes linked to the procurement deal through a network of five foreign companies. Investigators maintain that Gupta controlled these offshore entities and served as the ultimate beneficiary of the diverted funds, a finding also noted by the tribunal in its order. Gupta has denied any connection with these entities, contending that the enforcement action relies on circumstantial assumptions.
According to investigative findings, Italian manufacturer Agusta SpA transferred substantial sums to entities connected with intermediaries, including 42 million euros to firms linked to Christian Michel James and 28 million euros to companies tied to Carlo Gerosa and Guido Haschke. Investigators state that a portion of these funds was subsequently routed to entities linked to Gupta via a Tunisian firm and Mauritius-based Interstellar Technologies. The financial trail forms part of the broader inquiry into the February 8, 2010 contract between the Indian government and AgustaWestland, which was later cancelled following corruption inquiries in Italy, leading to a Central Bureau of Investigation case registered on March 12, 2013.
Procedural Timeline and Warrants Confirm Enforcement Action
The agency provisionally attached Gupta’s assets worth Rs 16.58 crore on March 14, 2024, an action subsequently confirmed by the adjudicating authority on August 23, 2024. Alongside the property proceedings, Gupta pursued parallel legal challenges regarding a non-bailable warrant issued against him by an Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate on August 29, 2020. The Delhi High Court dismissed his plea to quash the warrant on November 4, 2025, and the Supreme Court subsequently permitted him to withdraw his Special Leave Petition on July 15. While the tribunal ruling strengthens the agency’s asset attachment powers under PMLA, the substantive allegations regarding bribery and money laundering remain subject to formal judicial trial.
