CBI forms team Rs. 3,546cr helicopter scandal
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has formed a team
of 10-15 members under its anti-corruption wing to investigate the Rs
3,546-crore helicopter scandal.
It is alleged that Italy's aerospace firm Finmeccanica had
bribed Indian authorities to win the contract for twelve AW-101 helicopters in
February 2010.
CBI will seek information from Italian authorities about
Finmeccanica, its subsidiary AgustaWestland, and firm and other suspects in the
bribery case, Switzerland-based consultant Guido Ralph Haschke, who is said to
have acted as a middleman in the controversial deal.
On Thursday, the investigation agency asked the ministry of
defence to furnish all documents, including its documents related to its
internal investigation in the case. The CBI's preliminary enquiry can
last up to three months. After which, based on the findings, the CBI would
register an FIR (first information report).
In the Italian investigators' preliminary enquiry report,
some big Indian names have also appeared, including Air Chief Marshal S P
Tyagi.
While no arrest has so far been made in the case in India,
Italian authorities have already Finmeccanica CEO Giuseppe Orsi, and placed
Bruno Spagnolini, the head of the AgustaWestland helicopter unit, placed under
house arrest.
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