Judicial custody of Abhishek Verma, wife extended till Aug 1

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A Delhi court on Wednesday extended by 13 days the judicial custody of businessman Abhishek Verma and his Romanian wife, arrested for allegedly receiving money from a Swiss arms firm to stall blacklisting proceedings against it by the Indian government.

Special CBI Judge Sanjeev Jain remanded Verma and his newly-wed Romanian wife Anca Maria Neacsu, who were arrested on June 8, in judicial custody till August one after the CBI submitted that investigation in the case is still going on.

Earlier, the court had handed over to CBI some documents, purportedly sent to it by an NGO and linked to a case against Verma and his spouse, asking the probe agency to examine them and take action on them, if necessary.

In the present case, Verma has been accused of taking USD 530,000 from Rheinmetall Air Defence AG (RAD) for using his influence to stall the blacklisting proceedings initiated by the government against it after the Ordnance Factory Board scam had surfaced.

Verma is also an accused in the Naval War Room leak case in which commercial naval secrets were leaked to foreign companies. Ravi Shankaran, kin of former naval chief Arun Prakash, is also an accused in this case.

In the present case, the CBI has booked Verma, his company and other unnamed persons under various provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, for allegedly giving bribe to public servants. If convicted, the offences carry a punishment of six months to five year in jail.

The couple had been questioned by the CBI regarding the transactions of funds between Ganton India and Ganton USA, which are said to be his front companies, and about his business relationships with estranged associate C. Edmon Allen who had levelled several allegations against them with the US Federal Bureau of Investigation.