 "VVIP Chopper scam making headlines again? Here is all you need to know")
As the Agusta Westland scam acquires the centre-stage of political discussions once again, here is some information that will help refresh your memory.
2010
The ruling Indian National Congress government signs a Rs 3,546 crore deal with Agusta Westland, a subsidiary of Finmeccanica. The final deal agreed to buy 12 choppers meant to ferry VIP personnel.
2012
Italian attorney general’s office widens its investigations against the state-backed defence major Finmeccanica to include its alleged unethical dealings with India. Among the deals that fell within the ambit of an anti-corruption probe was AgustaWestland's VIP chopper deal . Later that year, a middleman- Guido Ralph Haschke- was arrested in Switzerland. Haschke had allegedly got 51 million euros from AgustaWestland to swing the contract in its favour.
2013
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In February 12, 2013, Finmeccanica's Chairman Guiseppe Orsi is arrested over corruption charges. The arrest warrant charged him with paying bribes of Rs 360 crore to intermediaries to secure the sale of the helicopters to India when he was head of the group’s AgustaWestland unit.
In March, the CBI registered a case related to the AgustaWestland transaction where bribes were suspected to have been handed out to Indian officials to secure a contract to supply 12 helicopters to ferry top government officials including the President and Prime Minister.
Following Orsi’s arrest, India froze payments for the choppers, although it had already paid Rs 1,620 crore, 45% of the contract value, and accepted three helicopters.
2014
In October, an Italian lower court acquitted Tyagi of all charges. It also acquitted Orsi and former AgustaWestland head Bruno Spagnolini of “charges of international corruption”. Orsi and Spagnolini were, however, convicted for false invoicing and were sentenced to prison for two years. (Read: Here)
2016
On 9 December, the CBI arrested the former chief of Indian Air Force, Air Chief Marshal SP Tyagi, in relation to the case.
On December 11, the Milan court of appeals overturns the lower court verdict and ruled that Orsi and Spagnolini had paid bribes to Indian officials to win the contract. The court indicted Tyagi for being a beneficiary of the bribes. It said payments were made to Tyagi and his family, including three of his cousins, in cash and by wire transfer. Giuseppe Orsi is sentenced for a four-and-a-half-year jail term, while Bruno Spagnolini, who headed the chopper division of AgustaWestland, has been sent to jail for four years. (Read : Here)
What Italian investigations found
Italian investigators find evidence against Haschke by secretly recording a series of his conversations with business partner Carlo Gerosa, and two other individuals during a Switzerland tour. According to the Italian judicial report, Haschke spoke of money being routed through Mauritius and Tunisia in order to evade detection. Haschke allegedly also referred to Indian investigators as “morons” for would take years to track down transactions links.
Other conversations mention ‘Mrs Gandhi’ and her close aides- Ahmed Patel and Pranab Mukherjee. Sonia Gandhi is said to be the ‘driving force behind the VIP’ deal. (Read: Here)
A handwritten list of “budget expenditure items” lists the initials ‘AP’, and some scribbles that could be interpreted to indicate senior Indian officials, with some numbers against them. The court, however, refused to take cognizance of this note, calling it an “estimate” that did not prove anything.