Senior Congress leader and a close confidante of Congress President Sonia Gandhi, Ahmed Patel, died at 71 on Wednesday. His son, Faisal Patel took to social media to announce death of his father.
https://twitter.com/mfaisalpatel/status/1331365042592247808?ref_src=twsrc%5EtfwPatel was admitted to hospital after having tested positive for Chinese coronavirus last month. However, he developed complications and his organs started failing. He passed away at around 3:30 AM on Wednesday.
Key witness named Ahmed Patel in AgustaWestland scam
Rajiv Saxena, prime witness turned approver in the Rs 3,600 crore AgustaWestland chopper scam, had recently named Ahmed Patel as one of the politicians who had allegedly received kickbacks in the chopper deal. Earlier his name had cropped up in Sandesara/Sterling Biotech scam. He was also questioned by the Enforcement Directorate in July this year for 26 hours in over 3 days in Rs 14,500 Sterling Biotech scam. He was asked 128 questions in connection with the money laundering case against Gujarat based Chetan Sandesara and Nitin Sandesara.
In March this year, Income Tax department had issued him summons over undeclared fund collection and expenses by Congress to the tune of Rs 550 crore.
Patel was the Congress party treasurer and a Rajya Sabha MP from Gujarat since 1993. Prior to that he served three terms as MP in the Lok Sabha. He also served as political secretary for Sonia Gandhi and was credited to being one of the top negotiators for Congress during the UPA government.