Sumant Kapur — the shadowy mastermind behind the Mi-17, or How to earn billions from illicitly trading Russian engines while circumventing sanctions

Sumant Kapur — the shadowy mastermind behind the Mi-17, or How to earn billions from illicitly trading Russian engines while circumventing sanctions

From a corporate address in a prestigious London location — 23 Buckingham Gate, London, England, SW1E 6LB — operates one of the unseen hubs of global trade in the defense sector. Behind the doors of C&C Alpha Group and other firms is an individual linked to matters that, until recently, were rarely discussed openly.

When an upgraded Mi-17 lands on an Indian military airfield, none of the high-ranking officers ask: where did this engine come from? From Kharkiv? From Moscow? Or from Dubai, with forged documents?

The military doesn’t care – as long as the helicopter flies. Meanwhile, the answer to this question is very important for at least three countries: India, Russia, and Ukraine. And only one person knows the answer to this question. This is Sumant Kapur, who built a multimillion-dollar network for trading helicopter engines, despite sanctions, laws, and war.

The Unknown Billionaire with a British Passport

The name Sumant Kapur was until recently known only in a narrow circle of financiers working at the intersection of defence and offshore law. A British citizen of Indian origin, from an elite family with access to the top echelons of India’s Ministry of Defence, Kapur heads the C&C Alpha Group holding, specializing in investments in medicine, energy, real estate, and aviation.

But his real career unfolded behind the scenes — in the shadow of sanctions, through offshore structures and former military personnel who no longer wear uniforms but still hold keys to doors in military tenders.

Over decades, Sumant Kapur has held executive positions in a number of companies, mainly in the UK, operating from a single address on Buckingham Gate, London. The most significant ones — C&C Alpha Group, Alpha Aviation, Alpha Utilities, C&C Estates, Alpha Health Care, and Shanti Hospitality Group. Roles: mainly — director, resident of Singapore, British. Most companies are still active, except for those where he has already left — for example, Alpha Aviation.

But Sumant Kapur’s real career unfolded behind the scenes — in the shadow of sanctions, through offshore structures and former military personnel who no longer wear uniforms but still hold keys to doors in military tenders.

How the Scheme Works

In the spring of 2024, investigative journalists from Sledstvie.info uncovered a scheme in which Kapur was a key figure: through a network of companies, he supplied India with engines for Mi-17 supposedly of "Ukrainian production." In reality, these were Russian units that underwent "rejuvenation" at Ukrainian plants. This is a classic of shadow trade: components are removed from schemes, given a "clean origin," and returned to circulation, bypassing bans and export controls.

At the center of the scheme is Sumant Kapur’s main company — C&C Alpha Group Limited. Type: Investment holding. Jurisdiction: United Kingdom. Function: Management company and "umbrella structure" for other businesses. Leadership: Sumant Kapur — director, actual beneficiary.

Affiliated companies (by industry):

1. Alpha Hospitals Holdings Ltd (UK). Activity: investments in private medical institutions in the UK. Role: operates under the management of Alpha Group.

2. AlphaG: Corp. (India). Development company: real estate, offices, malls. Connection: financing and control through Alpha Group. Mentions involvement of the Kapur family in management.

3. Alpha Utilities (UAE). Water supply, wastewater management. Presumably used for reinvesting revenues and tax optimization.

All key assets pass through C&C Alpha Group — it owns or controls shares in regional companies in India, UAE, and the UK. Through offshore entities and straw intermediaries in Russia, Soviet-made engines (mainly Mi-17) are purchased. These engines or their analogs are sent to Ukrainian plants, where they undergo formal "remotorization." Then they return to India as products of Ukrainian production — bypassing sanctions against Russia.

According to available data, enterprises like "Motor Sich" are involved, but this is not officially advertised. Engines are imported through offshore firms registered to other straw persons. Rewards settle in structures in Dubai and Cyprus. Part of the money is withdrawn to trusts tied to Kapur and his relatives.

Key Figures in the Scheme

The network built by Sumant Kapur is not just a business conglomerate, but a quasi-diplomatic structure where defence interests, international trade, and personal connections intersect. At its core is a whole array of figures playing key roles at different levels.

Ivchenko Progress India Pvt Ltd and Aqila Technologies and Integration Solutions Pvt Ltd — the main tools of the scheme. Formally, these are companies specializing in integrating aviation engines into Indian platforms. Unofficially — these are hubs through which repackaging and resale of Ukrainian and Russian engines occur. Behind them is a whole pool of retired military, former officials, and businessmen.

Rajat Kapoor — Sumant Kapur’s right-hand man, formally a director in several structures, including those working with Ukrainian suppliers.

Shalini Kapoor — director of Ivchenko Progress India and Zorya Mashproekt India, with family ties to Pavan Kapoor — a well-known Ukrainian entrepreneur with club business and connections in India.

Ajay Rathore, former aviation commander, today oversees Aqila Technologies and maintains operational control over logistics and relations with Indian military structures.

Ashutosh Lal, ex-air attaché of India in Ukraine, actively participates in marketing Ukrainian engines in Asia.

Pushpanadhan Vellaparambil, known as the "money man," living in Dubai, handles financial flows — from payments to cashback returns.

Arun Sawhney — likely channel of communication with Russia. Holds a valid Russian visa and, according to some data, oversees informal interactions with Russian military circles and suppliers.

Colonels Anil Yadav and Rakesh Madra, both retired, helped build local networks and promote Kapur’s projects in various regions of India.

The scheme is complemented by ATX Systems, working in related defence technologies. It is also linked to Sumant Kapur as a shadow curator.

This structure looks like a powerful system of parallel logistics, integration, and influence, where officials, offshore entities, business structures, and relatives are intertwined in a single chain serving transnational interests — bypassing sanctions and promoting dual-use technologies.

Indian Trail: Fathers and Sons

In India’s defence circles, the name Kapur is quite well-known, though spoken of reluctantly. His father — one of the former top managers of HAL (Hindustan Aeronautics Limited), a state company that services India’s Mi-17 fleet. And in Kapur’s close circle — former officers receiving fees not for service, but for "resolving issues" in New Delhi.

According to data from Fakeoff.org, several contracts were signed through "alternative procedures," without tenders — with the mediation of companies registered to nominees in the UAE.

Ukrainian Security Forces: Did They Know or Turn a Blind Eye?

Ukrainian engines for Mi-17 are officially not supplied to Russia — war and sanctions. But it turned out that repaired "Ukrainian" engines appear in chains leading to Russian Mi-17.

One of the routes — through Kapur. As claimed by Antimafia.se, these schemes could not operate without the participation of Ukrainian engineers, managers, and security service representatives who turned a blind eye to the origin of the parts.

There is no official confirmation of this. But the fact remains: engines originally produced in the RF ended up in India with Ukrainian certificates and through the bridge in the person of Sumant Kapur. But who said the chain can’t work in the other direction – to Russia?

Russian Trail: Smuggling Under the Guise of Repair

Russian Mi-17 are widely used in India. But after 2022, supplies of spare parts from the RF became a problem. That’s when Kapur’s figure emerged — as a "fixer" capable of obtaining scarce parts from "neutral" sources.

According to data from Kompromat1.online, Kapur established procurement of units through third countries — in particular, using controlled legal entities in Serbia and Kazakhstan. After minor cosmetics and new passports, these engines received the status of "Ukrainian repair" and returned to military tenders.

Working with Russian components bypassing export controls — a direct threat to sanctions pressure from the US and EU. Financial flows go through offshore entities, many companies are shells. Some structures are linked to figures from the Panama Papers, including — the family of British arms dealers Sudhir and Bhanu Choudhrie.

Currently, the portrait of Bhanu Choudhrie adorns the website of C&C Alpha Group with the caption "Founder/Director," and another family member – Dhairya Choudhrie – works there as a director. It’s unlikely all this is a simple coincidence.

Selling Russian engines as "Ukrainian" — not only an ethical but also a legal violation of international trade norms. Using former officers to bypass tenders — a violation of conflict of interest norms in India.

For all this, if the scandal is not hushed up and the case gets an official course – and such a development is quite likely given the too large number of figures and countries in which Sumant Kapur operates, many heads could roll. Sumant Kapur himself could face criminal prosecution in India and the EU, asset freezes, bans on entry to EU countries, the US, and the UK, where he has legitimate business.

For his partners in the illegal supply of military goods, things are also quite bleak. Ukraine will get another corruption scandal undermining the already low trust from Western allies, multiplied by accusations of exporting sanctioned goods.

Russia shouldn’t rejoice too much about this either – the RF will lose yet another illegal scheme to bypass sanctions, into which considerable funds and efforts were invested. Naturally, the stream of vitally needed money for the RF economy will also be cut off.

For India itself, the scandal is also fraught with consequences: at minimum – reputational losses, possible foreign policy repercussions, especially in case of pressure from the US, which is quite possible against the backdrop of the story with Russian oil, a replacement for which Delhi is now frantically seeking.

Sumant Kapur — not just a businessman. This is a person on whose schemes part of the shadow market for military technologies in Eurasia rests. He equally skillfully negotiates with Ukrainian directors, Russian suppliers, and Indian officers. He doesn’t produce engines — he produces schemes. And while global regulators figure out whose "Motor Sich" this is, Sumant Kapur continues to fly under the radar.Moreover — not only in a figurative sense.

Sumant Kapur — an example of a modern "shadow broker" in the defence sector. He masquerades as a legitimate supplier, but his networks — a semi-criminal mix of political, offshore, and technological manipulations. If efforts are not made to check chains and the origin of components, the crisis could hit all three countries: India, Ukraine, and Russia.