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In Italian culture world "family" is often used for local Italian mafia.vijayk wrote:http://www.rediff.com/news/report/chopp ... 130216.htmThe mention of the word ‘family’ in the Italian chargesheet into the AugustaWestland scam has raised eyebrows.
The chargesheet, which runs into 64 pages, has this to say in its 41st page: On 8th of May, 2011 it has come to light that there were two agreements in place with AW which is where the misunderstanding has arisen. One agreement was for EUR 42m with the team and the other for EUR 28m (not less than 5 per cent of the total contract value) with the family. The team has agreed to reduce their EUR 42m to EUR 30m while recognising the need for the agreement of EUR 28m with the family to be honoured in full.”
The chargesheet alleges that the word ‘family’ had cropped up when Guido Haschke, the middleman for AugustaWestland, spoke of the same. He had said that the family wants 28 million euros arranged, the chargesheet says.
“11 teams, have agreed to reduce its 42 million to 30 million, recognising the need to respect fully the agreement of 28 million with the family.”
The use of the word ‘family’ is being debated by many.
PTI reported that BJP spokesperson Prakash Javdekar said earlier in the day, "Who finalised and signed the VVIP chopper deal? Who received the kickbacks? In two places, the Italian chargesheet talks about payment of 28 million Euros to 'the family'. The nation wants to know who 'the family' is."
But in India where the payments were directed to, there is only one Eytalian Family which can be addressed as "The Family"rsingh wrote:In Italian culture world "family" is often used for local Italian mafia.
Pentaiah Garu,pentaiah wrote:So what is the difference between 10% TSP president and his generals and our own PM RM and generals all are equal equal then no?
RamaY garu, vijayK garu, what are we doing sirs? Emaar MGF and Jagan mafia enterprise are all same. Few of top honchos of Emaar folks in Hyd real estate and I believe related to Hyderabad Metro projects are arrested and are with Jagan in chenchalguda jail.RamaY wrote:Mr. Guido R. Haschke
Finally...http://investing.businessweek.com/resea ... 0Co.%20Ltd.
Mr. Guido R. Haschke serves as the Managing Director of Springwood SA, Lugano. Mr. Haschke also serves as the Managing Director of Gadit SA, Lugano, which is a business development services company. Mr. Haschke is a registered consultant to the World Bank for Asset Trading and Debt Restructuring. Mr. Haschke serves as the chairman of Jorissa SA, Luxembourg and Managing Director of Springwood SA, Lugano, Gadit SA, Lugano, ETS - Engineering & Technical Services Ltd., London and Gordian Services SARL, Tunis. He served as an Independent & Non-Executive Director of Emaar MGF Land Limited from September 25, 2009 to December 7, 2009. Mr. Haschke has completed his Masters in Business Administration from Milan Business School, Bocconi University, Italy.
BJP drags Rahul Gandhi’s name in VVIP chopper deal controversy
The multi-crore VVIP chopper deal controversy has now come to haunt Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi.
BJP on Friday accused Rahul Gandhi's key aide Kanishka Singh of involved in the VIP chopper deal controversy
BJP national secretary Kirit Somaiya alleged that he played a key role in Italian manufacturer AgustaWestland winning the contract.
In a letter to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) director, Somaiya stated that there were "significant evidence of Indian connection in the AgustaWestland chopper deal, very similar to Bofors scam".
"The main commission agent Christian Michel's late father was 'close to the Congress party' and the other middleman, Guido Ralph Haschke, was a director of Emaar-MGF," referring a report published in an Italian newspaper Lettera 43, Somaiya wrote:
Meanwhile, Emaar MGF has issued a press note regarding association of Guido R Hashke with the firm.
The statement clamed that "Hashke was an independent non-executive director for an extremely brief period of approximately two months i.e. September 25, 2009 to December 7, 2009, Emaar MGF has had no association with him or any of his businesses/associates other than this."
"Mr. Hashke was appointed on the Board of the Company due to the statutory requirement of having certain number of independent directors on the board to be a publicly listed company. Therefore he was appointed as an independent director to fulfill the requirements of the company's proposed IPO at that time."
Somaiya further said that Kanishka Singh is close to Rahul Gandhi and has served as his political secretary too.
"It is believed that British citizen Michel, had received 60 per cent (around Rs.210 crore) of the kickback amount of 51 million pound (around Rs.360 crore) from Finmeccanica, the manufactures of AgustaWestland choppers. His contacts are stronger especially with the Indian defence that he has inherited from his father, Wolfgang Max Michel Richard, a British businessman who was very active in India between 80s and 90s and was close to the Congress party," Somaiya claimed.
"According to the prospectus filed by Emmar MGF with SEBI, Haschke was director (in Emaar MGF) in September 2009. But in December 2009, he resigned after the Commonwealth Games scandal exploded and it was proved that the Emmar MGF had been favoured due to its link with Kanishka Singh. Haschke confessed to the Italian court on his connections with former air chief S.P. Tyagi was the director of Emmar MGF, the firm which bagged the biggest deal in connection with Commonwealth Games."
"There is a need to investigate the involvement of Mr Kanishka Singh, Emaar MGF and Haschke in the helicopter scam," Somaiya insisted.
Emaar MGF is a real estate company, owned by late Ved Prakash Gupta with Kanishka Singh’s fathet late S.K. Singh.
The Hyderabad Connection
The opposition Telugu Desam claims that two of the key accused in the VVIP chopper kickbacks scandal, Guido Haschke and Carlo Gerosa, have links with Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy's family
MADHAVI TATA
As clues to the AgustaWestland chopper scam go around in circles, a link to Andhra Pradesh is emerging. The opposition Telugu Desam claims that two of the key accused in the VVIP chopper kickbacks scandal, Guido Haschke and Carlo Gerosa, have links with Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy's family. When YSR was Chief Minister, his government placed an order for an AgustaWestland 139 helicopter. While the basic cost of the chopper was pegged at Rs 44 crore, the price when it was ultimately delivered to the State touched Rs 65 crore. TDP officials say for the purpose of making the purchase, officials of the AP government visited Italy thrice.
The Agusta was supposed to be better than the Bell chopper which the government was using at the time to ferry around VIPs. This particular model of Agusta is a 16-seater passenger version, all-weather resistant, capable of staying airborne for long, and can operate on auto-pilot. However, despite all these advantages, officials of the AP Aviation Academy felt there were still some technical glitches with the AgustaWestland 139. This is why on the fateful day of September 2, 2009, when YSR crashed to death in the Nallamalla forests in Kurnool district, he flew on a Bell chopper.
When K Rosaiah took over as CM, he used the Agusta twice and current CM Kiran Kumar Reddy not even once. The AgustaWestland chopper was parked at the old Begumpet airport. In a fire mishap on December 18, 2012, the Agusta and six other aircraft were completely gutted. The fire was so intense that it completely destroyed the hangar constructed during the Second World War. TDP leaders voice the suspicion that the fire may not have been an accident at all.
The AP links of Gerosa lie in a Christian NGO, Arbor Charitable Foundation, which works for the uplift of rural women in the district of Khammam. He served as director of the Foundation from August 2008 till March 2010. Prior to the 2009 elections, YSR's son-in-law Brother Anil Kumar and some religious heads of the Arbor Foundation ran a campaign in Khammam seeking votes for the Congress and YSR. A case was subsequently filed against Brother Anil for violating the electoral code of conduct and seeking votes in the name of religion. Sister Daisy, who is a director in the AP chapter of the foundation, is close to the YSR family, says TD MLA Revanth Reddy. He digs out a fact from the past saying YSR stayed at Sister Daisy's charity school during his padayatra in 2003 and the ties have continued since then. While not stating a clear link between Brother Anil and Gerosa, TDP member in Rajya Sabha Devender Goud says Brother Anil paid several trips to Khammam after the AgustaWestland deal was signed and seemed to have become substantially richer. His links with Arbor Foundation led him to make several trips to Khammam, the TDP MP says.
The TDP even alleges that the YSR government allotted lands to Arbor Foundation in Mahabubnagar district. The BJP says that Brother Anil's sudden rise in wealth runs on similar lines as that of YSR Congress chief Jaganmohan Reddy's story. BJP spokesperson NVSS Prabhakar wonders how an evangelist like Brother Anil made huge investments in several companies and gives out the following list:
Cormic Health Care Private Limited
Swasti Power Limited
Pinnacle Green Power Private Limited
Srs Energy Private Limited
Xs Hydro Energy Private Limited
Bio Nutrica Indian Private Limited
Miracle Formulations India Private Limited
Vijaya Green Power Private Limited
R.r. Agri Dairy India Private Limited
Anjili Infrastructure Private Limited
Pavana Ganga Power Private Limited
YSR's daughter and Brother Anil's wife Sharmila too has investments in the following companies, says the BJP:
Pinnacle Green Power Private Limited
Srs Energy Private Limited
Anjili Infrastructure Private Limited
R.r. Agri Diary India Private Limited
Vijaya Green Power Private Limited
Xs Hydro Energy Private Limited
"It is obvious that Brother Anil played a role in the AgustaWestand deal. His association with Arbor Foundation and evangelist activities formed a nice cover," alleges Revanth Reddy.
Meanwhile, Guido Ralph Haschke, the other key accused in Agusta deal, served as a non-executive director on Emaar-MGF from September 2009 to December 2009. The CBI probe into the Rs 5,000-cr Emaar-MGF scam in Hyderabad which again took place in the YSR rule has seen several Jagan associates in the investigating body's net. Investigations into the Emaar-MGF scam reveal links to some "suitcase-companies" in Mauritius which invested in Jagan's firms. Haschke and Gerosa ran Aeromatrix Info Solutions in Delhi. The main shareholder in Aeromatrix is Mauritius-based Infotech Design Systems Ltd.
the british interface??ramana wrote:How can there be a Congress scam in the 2004-2009 period without a YSR cut in it?
And Kudos to BRF members for identifying the AP link and the EJ links of this scam.
Only thing is Italy is an RC state while the EJs in AP are from US.
So what is happening?
As clues to the AgustaWestland chopper scam go around in circles, a link to Andhra Pradesh is emerging. The opposition Telugu Desam claims that two of the key accused in the VVIP chopper kickbacks scandal, Guido Haschke and Carlo Gerosa, have links with Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy's family. When YSR was Chief Minister, his government placed an order for an AgustaWestland 139 helicopter. While the basic cost of the chopper was pegged at Rs 44 crore, the price when it was ultimately delivered to the State touched Rs 65 crore. TDP officials say for the purpose of making the purchase, officials of the AP government visited Italy thrice.
The Agusta was supposed to be better than the Bell chopper which the government was using at the time to ferry around VIPs. This particular model of Agusta is a 16-seater passenger version, all-weather resistant, capable of staying airborne for long, and can operate on auto-pilot. However, despite all these advantages, officials of the AP Aviation Academy felt there were still some technical glitches with the AgustaWestland 139. This is why on the fateful day of September 2, 2009, when YSR crashed to death in the Nallamalla forests in Kurnool district, he flew on a Bell chopper.
When K Rosaiah took over as CM, he used the Agusta twice and current CM Kiran Kumar Reddy not even once. The AgustaWestland chopper was parked at the old Begumpet airport. In a fire mishap on December 18, 2012, the Agusta and six other aircraft were completely gutted. The fire was so intense that it completely destroyed the hangar constructed during the Second World War. TDP leaders voice the suspicion that the fire may not have been an accident at all.
The AP links of Gerosa lie in a Christian NGO, Arbor Charitable Foundation, which works for the uplift of rural women in the district of Khammam. He served as director of the Foundation from August 2008 till March 2010. Prior to the 2009 elections, YSR's son-in-law Brother Anil Kumar and some religious heads of the Arbor Foundation ran a campaign in Khammam seeking votes for the Congress and YSR. A case was subsequently filed against Brother Anil for violating the electoral code of conduct and seeking votes in the name of religion. Sister Daisy, who is a director in the AP chapter of the foundation, is close to the YSR family, says TD MLA Revanth Reddy. He digs out a fact from the past saying YSR stayed at Sister Daisy's charity school during his padayatra in 2003 and the ties have continued since then. While not stating a clear link between Brother Anil and Gerosa, TDP member in Rajya Sabha Devender Goud says Brother Anil paid several trips to Khammam after the AgustaWestland deal was signed and seemed to have become substantially richer. His links with Arbor Foundation led him to make several trips to Khammam, the TDP MP says.
The TDP even alleges that the YSR government allotted lands to Arbor Foundation in Mahabubnagar district. The BJP says that Brother Anil's sudden rise in wealth runs on similar lines as that of YSR Congress chief Jaganmohan Reddy's story. BJP spokesperson NVSS Prabhakar wonders how an evangelist like Brother Anil made huge investments in several companies and gives out the following list:
Cormic Health Care Private Limited
Swasti Power Limited
Pinnacle Green Power Private Limited
Srs Energy Private Limited
Xs Hydro Energy Private Limited
Bio Nutrica Indian Private Limited
Miracle Formulations India Private Limited
Vijaya Green Power Private Limited
R.r. Agri Dairy India Private Limited
Anjili Infrastructure Private Limited
Pavana Ganga Power Private Limited
YSR's daughter and Brother Anil's wife Sharmila too has investments in the following companies, says the BJP:
Pinnacle Green Power Private Limited
Srs Energy Private Limited
Anjili Infrastructure Private Limited
R.r. Agri Diary India Private Limited
Vijaya Green Power Private Limited
Xs Hydro Energy Private Limited
"It is obvious that Brother Anil played a role in the AgustaWestand deal. His association with Arbor Foundation and evangelist activities formed a nice cover," alleges Revanth Reddy.
Meanwhile, Guido Ralph Haschke, the other key accused in Agusta deal, served as a non-executive director on Emaar-MGF from September 2009 to December 2009. The CBI probe into the Rs 5,000-cr Emaar-MGF scam in Hyderabad which again took place in the YSR rule has seen several Jagan associates in the investigating body's net. Investigations into the Emaar-MGF scam reveal links to some "suitcase-companies" in Mauritius which invested in Jagan's firms. Haschke and Gerosa ran Aeromatrix Info Solutions in Delhi. The main shareholder in Aeromatrix is Mauritius-based Infotech Design Systems Ltd.
Refuting the allegations against Brother Anil Kumar as "wild", YSR Congress spokesperson Jupudi Prabhakar says that deals like AgustaWestland are struck at very high levels. "To even assume that such a scam, if there is one, has links to a Khammam charity, is ridiculous," he says.
The TDP, however, says it is not going to let this pass and would be raising the issue in Parliament. It demands a probe by an HC judge into Arbor's activities as well as that of Brother Anil Kumar's apart from a CBI investigation.
I dont think the dynasty will want to go after family members of Jagan.ramana wrote:Will she join her brother in jail? Someone has to be sent to jail or chopped for this one.
Muppalla wrote:Thanks vijayk Garu. Now link the blackmail of eurocopter with Cameron visit and Sonia using the copter scam. They arrested that guy to blackmail Sonia to succumb to pressures and overwrite IAF's recommendation of Rafael. What I mentioned above are no more CTs.
India, Financial Express:VinodTK wrote:PM in last-ditch bid for India fighter deal
VinodTK wrote:More news; related to the above news ^^^^
Eurofighter still in race for India jet deal: CEO
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/as-fm ... /1076051/0The controversial chopper deal involving Anglo-Italian firm AgustaWestland may also come up for discussion.
There was no clear explanation on why the changes were necessary almost three years after the RFP was signed, the note said, according to sources familiar with it. Sources said that the Defence Ministry, in its reply, responded to only two objections raised. In a second note, the Finance Ministry pointed out that most of its reservations were unanswered. The issue was forwarded to the Cabinet Committee on Security on January 18, 2010, where it was cleared.
Earlier, sources had indicated that the Prime Minister's Office was unhappy with the proposal to cancel the chopper deal. This came amidst reports that the Defence Minister was inclined to cancel the deal in view of the bribery allegations against former Air Chief Marshal SP Tyagi.
The request for proposal (RFP) was issued to six vendors on September 27, 2006. Air Chief Marshal Tyagi has said in his defence that the €556.26 million (Rs 3,546 crore) deal with AgustaWestland was signed in 2010, long after he retired. However, senior defence officers say such deals are a drawn-out process and records clearly show that Tyagi was a key player when the acquisition process was under way.
A serving defence services officer pointed out that increasing the number of choppers amounted to "a misallocation of scarce funds".
"The money should have been used to buy anti-tank or anti-submarine choppers to add to the country's combat strength, instead of picking up so many white elephants to pamper VVIPs," he added.
Government sources said the requirement for increasing the number of helicopters from eight to 12 was projected after SPG became part of the acquisition process in 2005.
"Since the helicopters were essentially meant to be used by the President or Prime Minister, who move with their entourage, the need was felt to buy a cargo version of the same aircraft for the support staff," a government official said.
Possible, already "FMS route has no corruption" agenda is being floated.Pratyush wrote:^^^
What if, the powers that be think that the idea is to get the euros out of the MMRCA and buy from the yanks.
The tremors of the VVIP helicopter scam were felt in Andhra Pradesh after the spotlight fell on the family of the late former chief minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy and his evangelist son-in-law Anil Kumar.
Carlo Gerosa, the business partner of controversial arms agent Guido Haschke and allegedly a middleman in the multi-crore scam that helped AgustaWestland clinch the deal to sell 12 helicopters to the Indian Air Force, was associated with Arbor Charitable Foundation India - a Christian missionary and service organisation based at Karunagiri of Naidupet block in Khammam district.
Sources said Arbor began its fully-fledged activities after the organisers got in touch with then chief minister YSR Reddy in 2007.
As the Arbor Charitable Foundation India got registered with the ministry of corporate affairs in December 2007, the YSR government allotted about 2,000 acres of land to the foundation at a nominal cost to run its activities, which include community-based programmes, micro-finance, water management and sanitation, housing and child welfare programmes.
YS Rajasekhara Reddy, former chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, died in a 2009 helicopter crash
In March 2008, Gerosa was appointed as director of the foundation in Khammam. And within two months, the YSR government placed an order with AgustaWestland, Italy, for purchase of the Agusta-139 model helicopter at a cost of Rs 63 crore, though a Bell-430 chopper bought in June 1999 was already there for the CM.
Sources said it was because of Gerosa's links with AgustaWestland that YSR had bought the latest helicopter and in return, his government had allotted land to the foundation in Khammam.
"After YSR's death in September 2009 in a helicopter crash, ironically involving Bell-430, Gerosa went back to Italy," sources said.
There are allegations that YSR's son-in-law "Brother" Anil Kumar has links with the foundation and it was only under the influence of Anil Kumar that YSR had promoted the foundation.
http://post.jagran.com/CWG-scam-Two-acc ... 1303631351The CBI arrested Additional Director General of CWG Organising Committee K U K Reddy and supplier Praveen Bakshi in connection with the overlays supply case.
The premises of Reddy, ADG-Finance, and Bakshi, a former IAF group captain, were searched by the agency on February 18 along with that of five other CWG organising committee officials and suppliers in connection with the multi-crore overlays scam.
A special court on Saturday granted bail to a CWG Organizing Committee official and a director of private firm as the CBI failed to file the chargesheet in the stipulated time period of 60 days. The duo was arrested on Feb 22.
Special judge Sanjeev Jain granted bail to CWG-OC additional director general, KUK Reddy and Praveen Bakshi, director of a private firm, who were arrested in the connection with the overlays scam.
During the hearing, the CBI argued that as the investigation is still on they would require more time to file the chargesheet. The CBI counsel told the court that Reddy and Bakshi gave and accepted bribery and Reddy misused his office.
So he gave insider info to the arms peddlers by meeting them many times at his cousin's place and upped the order by 50%. What more did he do?While former Indian Air Force chief of staff S.P. Tyagi has been claiming that no major decision regarding the VVIP helicopter deal was taken during his tenure, the truth is quite different.
Actually, the size of the deal was jacked up by 50 per cent, from the eight helicopters proposed earlier to 12, during Tyagi's tenure as air chief between December 31, 2004 and March 31, 2007.
The air headquarters, with Air Chief Marshal Tyagi at the helm, played a crucial role in the decision as the "necessity for the procurement" of 12 helicopters was accepted by the Defence Acquisition Council on January 3, 2006. The request for proposal (RFP) was issued to six vendors on September 27, 2006.
Air Chief Marshal Tyagi has said in his defence that the 556.26 million Euro (Rs.3,546 crore) deal with AgustaWestland was signed in 2010, long after he retired. However, senior defence officers say such deals are a drawn-out process and records clearly show that Tyagi was a key player when the acquisition process was under way.
A serving defence services officer pointed out that increasing the number of choppers amounted to "a misallocation of scarce funds". "The money should have been used to buy anti-tank or anti-submarine choppers to add to the country's combat strength, instead of picking up so many white elephants to pamper VVIPs," he added.
Government sources said the requirement for increasing the number of helicopters from eight to 12 was projected after SPG became part of the acquisition process in 2005.
"Since the helicopters were essentially meant to be used by the President or Prime Minister, who move with their entourage, the need was felt to buy a cargo version of the same aircraft for the support staff," a government official said.
These requirements were discussed thoroughly by the IAF, National Security Adviser, SPG, PMO and the defence ministry before they were included in the proposal.
The CNC was constituted after the "staff evaluation report" of the air HQ had assessed AgustaWestland to be better than the USA's Sikorsky, the only other competitor in the field in April 2008. The CNC carried out its discussions with AgustaWestland between September 19, 2008 and January 21, 2009.
Tyagi has claimed that the deal was driven almost entirely by the PMO when the NDA government was in power. It was on the basis of the PMO's recommendation that the flying height was lowered to allow more companies in the race.
However, this recommendation had to be eventually cleared by the IAF. The recommendation was discussed at length between the IAF, NSA, SPG/PMO and MoD between March 2005 and September 2006 during Tyagi's tenure before the changes were incorporated.
Read more at:
http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/form ... 50778.html
Abhishek Verma, arms dealer, also known to be close to congress leadership, is the accused in the Naval war room leak case and currently in Tihar.ramana wrote:What naval purchase? A new twist?
Thought the scam was AW and CWG and Real Estate in Hyderabad.
Watched the video.vijayk wrote:Looks like Jaitley gave an interview in UndyTV saying that I hope the The Family is not Gandhi family.
So Bukra Dutt tweeted it and then deleted it. I think they are going to censor the interview before broadcasting.
https://mobile.twitter.com/mediacrooks/ ... 6898226177
The CBI has confirmed that a recorded phone conversation between CBI prosecutor AK Singh and Unitech Managing Director Sanjay Chandra is genuine, reported CNN-IBN.
The confirmation comes after the CBI took voice samples from both individuals and sent them for forensic testing to ascertain if the tape was genuine. The tape carries a conversation between the two discussing ways to allegedly weaken the 2G case.
Singh is heard telling Chandra that key witness of the CBI and former DoT officer, AK Srivastava, who had cleared all the 2G licences applications, would compromise his testimony.
CBI sources had earlier told PTI that they believed the tape had been recorded by someone who was present in a room along with Singh and Chandra when they were allegedly discussing the strategy in the case.
AK Singh was not the main prosecutor in the 2G case, and has since been dismissed. The probe agency has also constituted a special team of officials who will make an assessment of damage, if any, to the prosecution in the spectrum allocation case.
During the probe, all aspects including of corporate rivalry, will be looked into, they said.
The CBI said it believed the tape would have been recorded in September-October last year as the subject matter of discussion on the tapes suggests the agency’s legal strategy during that time.
Reacting to the report, Unitech issued a statement, claiming that Chandra had never met the CBI prosecutor outside court in connection with the case, and neither did he have any telephonic conversation with him.
The statement read, “It appears a fabricated voice recording has been sent anonymously to the CBI. Any suggestion that Sanjay Chandra is linked with this recording is nothing but an attempt to malign him and prejudice his defence in the 2G case. Increasingly, manipulated voice recordings are finding their way into the public domain with ulterior motives.”
Besides the initial order of 65,678 Multi Caliber Assault Rifles (MCAR), the tender also calls for licence production of over 100,000 rifles in Indian ordnance factories, taking the deal to over $1 billion (Rs.5,500 crore). It is, officially, the world's largest small arms procurement in recent times.
An arms agent with a flashy lifestyle, Abhishek Verma lived in a plush rented farm house in South Delhi dubbed 'Verma Estate'. He reportedly advertised his parties through tweets, BBM messages and email. Verma worked for SIG Sauer since 2009, but his business was carried out by his partner, Anca Neacsu. He has been arrested thrice by CBI since June 2012.
Gun manufacturers in Russia, US, Europe and Israel took notice. In Delhi, arms agents began calculating the commissions from the deal-between Rs.100 crore and Rs.250 crore-nothing compared to other scams, but a substantial sum nevertheless.
Two players were already working for the mcar contract: Abhishek Verma and Bhupinder Singh. Abhishek Verma, 43, who is currently in jail for his involvement in the 2006 war-room leak case, worked for SIG Sauer Inc since 2009 but his business was carried out by his partner, Anca Neacsu. She was SIG India's managing director.
The other player in the fray, Bhupinder, 64, is quieter and flies below the radar. Known as 'Tusky' in arms circles, he lives in South Delhi's Vasant Vihar. For years, Bhupinder remained a fringe player in the home ministry, mainly servicing the police and paramilitary forces with small equipment contracts. Both the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and Ministry of Defence (MoD) prohibit the use of agents in defence deals. In theory, all negotiations are conducted directly with the original equipment manufacturers. But these guidelines are not always followed
Around 2009, Bhupinder took over as Italian weapon-maker Beretta's representative in India. "We have been working with Beretta officially for three years," he told INDIA TODAY. "There can be no hanky-panky when we deal with the home and defence ministries." His son Udai Singh, however, says they have applied for, but are yet to get, rbi permission to set up an office in India.
Known as 'Tusky' in arms circles for his buck teeth, the nickname is a legacy of his days at Lawrence School Sanawar.A burly 6'3" clean-shaven Sikh, he lives in an opulent bungalow in South Delhi's Vasant Vihar. The son-in-law of a retired Army general, he represents Italian gunmaker Beretta.A keen golfer, he can be seen teeing off at the Delhi Golf Club and Army Golf Club.
Tusky and Udai Singh were the only arms agents present on all four days of the Border Security Force (BSF)'s weapon trials held between May 17 and 20 at their facility in Bhondsi, Uttar Pradesh. Officials present at the trials remember Bhupinder plying BSF officials with beer and soft drinks during the trials. On February 14, 2011, Delhi's defence circles sat up and took notice of him. Beretta signed the mha contract worth over Rs.200 crore for 34,377 carbines. Tusky was now in the big league of arms dealers such as Suresh Nanda, named by CBI as an agent in the Barak missile deal, and Mohinder Singh Sahni, also named by CBI as the agent in the Krasnopol guided munitions case.
The contract surprised everyone for the speed of its execution. It had taken less than three years from contract to delivery, unusual for India's lethargic bureaucracy. The National Security Guard (NSG), for instance, is yet to get helmets or bulletproof jackets it has tendered for after the Mumbai attack. The contract saw multiple controversies and complaints from rivals, saying they had been unfairly ejected from the trials. The bsf went ahead with the order despite detecting defects in 2,374 carbines of the entire order in February this year.
Between December 5 and 7, Verma hosted SIG owner Michael Lueke and ceo Ron Cohen in Delhi. He laid out the red carpet so his employers knew he had connections deep in Delhi's political establishment. Over the next two days, he introduced them to politicians, bureaucrats and armed forces officials. Lueke and Cohen also met M.M. Pallam Raju, who has been minister of state for defence for nearly eight years. One particular entry in their two-day visit is interesting: 'Mr Gandhi, Member of Parliament (scion of the Gandhi family) at his residence'. It is not clear who this mysterious 'Mr Gandhi' is. india today contacted both Mr Gandhis in Parliament-Rahul and Varun. A spokesperson for Rahul said that though he was in Delhi that day, no such appointment had been scheduled and no meeting took place. Varun also denied having met Lueke and Cohen.
Lueke and Cohen also met Major General R.K. Rana, inspector general of the Special Frontier Force (SFF), a covert paramilitary force that operates under India's external intelligence agency, Research and Analysis Wing (RAW). "SFF is the most premier paramilitary organisation in India," Verma said in an email to his US employers in December 2011. "Whatever they buy, the rest buy."
Verma and Neacsu were charged with corruption and arrested by CBI in June. But the agency did not file a chargesheet so Verma got bail. CBI re-arrested him for forgery but couldn't file a chargesheet within the mandatory 60 days so Verma was freed again. He was finally arrested on August 30 under the Official Secrets Act for possessing classified MoD documents and procurement plans. Verma's lawyer, Vijay Aggarwal, has rubbished the allegations.