CBI starts fresh questioning of Tyagi brothers

AGUSTAWESTLAND COPTER DEAL
The interrogation follows allegations by ‘middleman’ Guido Haschke that he had paid money to them

NEW DELHI CBI has started fresh questioning of the cousins of former IAF chief SP Tyagi in the Rs 3,600 crore AgustaWestland VVIP helicopter deal. The interrogation is being done in light of claims by alleged middleman Guido Haschke that he had paid money to them.

Sources said the agency recently questioned Sanjeev alias Julie, Rajeev alias Docsa and Sandeep in connection with the claims made by Haschke.

“What I told CBI is that we have absolutely nothing to do with the deal and all supporting documents have been given to the CBI,” Sanjeev Tyagi told PTI when asked to comment on his examination. “We are cooperating with CBI and went to them every time we were called,” he said.

“The CAG report and Ministry of Defence release on the VVIP helicopter deal last year clearly refutes the charges levelled against us by CBI,” he added.

Sources said Haschke, who was questioned first by Defence Ministry officials and then by CBI, had told the probe agency that money was paid to the Tyagi brothers for the engineering works and meeting other administrative requirements in India.

Arrested in Switzerland in September last year and later extradited to Italy to face trial, Haschke has denied that he had ever met the former IAF Chief or handed over any money to him to clear the VVIP helicopter deal in favour of AgustaWestland.
Courtesy:
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
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Key middleman tells court in Italy: Commission split with Tyagi brothers

THE key middleman in the alleged VVIP chopper kickbacks scandal, who has been accused of conspiring to fix the Rs 3,546 crore deal, has claimed that he knew in advance about the change in the qualitative requirements of the contract and that the plan was to divide a commission of 7 per cent with the three "Tyagi brothers" — cousins of then Air Chief S P Tyagi.

Responding to questions in court in Busto Arsizio in Italy on Monday, Guido Haschke, a Swiss businessman who is one of the main accused in the case, claimed he knew the Tyagi brothers — Julie, Docsa and Sandeep — well and that he helped set up a key meeting between an AgustaWestland official and S P Tyagi to discuss the contract through these connections.

Haschke, his business partner Carlo Gerosa and British middleman Christian Michel are the main accused in the alleged 51 million euro kickbacks scandal. Haschke has spoken about his role in fixing the deal in the past but this is the first time he has shared details in a court.

Monday was the first day of his questioning in court and he is to be quizzed again on December 6.

The MoD is likely to scrap the contract for the 12 choppers and has issued a final showcause notice to the Anglo-Italian manufacturer. Defence Minister A K Antony has said that there has been wrongdoing and has made it clear there is no question of joining an arbitration process initiated by the company.

But in its reply, AgustaWestland last week claimed that no wrong has been done and that it has not violated the stringent integrity contract.

Although the former Air Chief and his cousins have been named in the CBI FIR in the case, all four have maintained they did not play any dubious role in the contract.

Haschke said he first learnt about the chopper deal much before it was officially floated by India in 2005 due to his association with the Tyagi family. He told the court that the Tyagi family was very well connected and that the three cousins asked if he could arrange contacts with either European consortium EADS or AgustaWestland's Italian parent Finmeccanica to "supply" the choppers.

The mediator told the court that he did not have any contact with EADS but managed to get through to Finmeccanica and arranged meetings with the Tyagis. Although Haschke said the Tyagi brothers flaunted their strong connections with then Air Chief S P Tyagi, he did not specify if the now-retired officer had assured him of winning the contract.

Haschke has also claimed that the alleged commission money - fixed initially at 7 per cent - was to be paid to the Indian partners through a shell company called IDS Tunisia.

According to the testimony, the money was to be allegedly divided between Haschke, Gerosa and S P Tyagi's three cousins.

Haschke told prosecutors he knew well in advance that the key requirement of the operating altitude of the chopper that had initially disqualified AgustaWestland would be toned down to allow the Italian firm participate in the bid.

As first reported by The Indian Express, Haschke had in a detailed statement to Italian investigators claimed last year how he got in touch with Indian middlemen and planned a complicated kickbacks channel through the Italian firm by opening a series of shell companies.

At the centre of the alleged payback channel was a Tunisia-based engineering firm, IDS, through which money was routed to various entities around the world, including in Mauritius and Singapore, before it finally found its way to India.

A part of the money was also allegedly diverted to the British Virgin Islands from where it made its way to Switzerland.
Courtesy:
Manu Pubby : New Delhi, Tue Dec 03 2013, 09:52 hrs
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/key-middleman-tells-court-in-italy-commission-split-with-tyagi-brothers/1202473/0

AgustaWestland VVIP chopper deal: Middleman Haschke arrested in Switzerland

Guido Ralph Haschke, the alleged middleman in the Rs 3,600 crore AgustaWestland VVIP choppers deal , has been arrested by Swiss authorities on charges of bribery, Italian media reported.

According to Italian news website, La Repubblica, Haschke could be brought to Italy by next week in case he prefers not to appeal against extradition proceedings before the Swiss Federal court.

The court in Switzerland ruled that Haschke can be extradited to Italy, Italian news agency ANSA reported yesterday.

The Rs 3,600-crore VVIP AgustaWestland helicopter supply contract is under probe of Italian and Indian agencies for alleged kickbacks paid to Indian officials - including former IAF Chief SP Tyagi - to clinch the deal.

Tyagi has denied allegations of any kickbacks.

Swiss-American Haschke is one of the 13 accused in the FIR filed by CBI which is probing the bribery allegations in the deal.

"Guido Haschke and Carlo Gerosa (both middlemen) managed to send 5.6 million euros through Mohali-based IDS Infotech and Chandigarh-based Aeromatrix Info Solutions Private Ltd to India and kept the remaining amount of about 24.30 million euros received from AgustaWestland with themselves in the account of IDS Tunisia," according to the CBI FIR in the case.

The Italian prosecutor who carried out the preliminary inquiry here has alleged that the CEO of Finmeccanica, the parent company of the UK-based AgustaWestland, had used services of middlemen to bribe Indian officials.

CBI which carried out the probe in India had named 13 individuals, including Tyagi and European middlemen Carlo Gerosa, Christian Michel and Guido Haschke, in the FIR as accused, in connection with the alleged bribery.

The Indian investigative agency has alleged that during his tenure as the IAF chief, Tyagi and "with his approval" the Air Force "conceded to reduce the service ceiling for VVIP helicopters from 6,000 m to 4,500 m as mandatory (although) it was vehemently opposing the same on grounds of security constraints and other related reasons".

Courtesy:
Fri Oct 18 2013, 11:30 hrs
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/agustawestland-vvip-chopper-deal-middleman-haschke-arrested-in-switzerland/1184189/

Gandhi bros ‘competed’ as middlemen for IAF deal

Rajiv And Sanjay Worked With Rival Firms To Ink Pact
New Delhi: During the Emergency (1975-77), the Gandhi brothers, Rajiv and Sanjay, may have competed as representatives in at least one of the most lucrative aircraft contracts of the day, suggest the US Embassy cables released by Wikileaks.

The US Embassy had said in a cable on July 30, 1976 that the Maruti company controlled by Sanjay was negotiating for BAC (British Aircraft Corporation) in India, and in a later cable added that it believed the company was already working with it. BAC was in the race for two aircraft contracts in India — for supplying aircraft to Indian Airlines and as a joint developer of Jaguar fighter for the Indian Air Force’s Deep Penetration Strike Aircraft (DPSA) project.

The US Embassy cables — sent between 1973 and 1976 — suggest that Rajiv was working for Saab-Scania, whose Viggen aircraft was in the fray with Jaguar for the DPSA venture.

So, if the secret cables from the US Embassy in India are to be believed, then the brothers were working for rival firms that were desperate to sell fighters to the IAF.

It is not clear if the brothers’ rivalry over IAF’s fighter deal had spilled over to family ties. However, the IAF’s fighter contract went beyond the Emergency, and the final decision could not be taken until 1978, when the Janata government settled for Jaguar fighters.

It is not recorded if Maruti, or Sanjay Gandhi, financially benefitted from the deal.

Sanjay also probably worked for BAC in Indian Airlines contract. It had bid its aircraft 111-474 against Boeing’s 737-200 and Fokker’s F-28 Mark 4000. Finally, Boeing bagged the contract.

According to the US cables, Maruti was also keen to represent other aircraft manufacturers in India.

On August 27, 1976, the US Embassy cabled Washington DC saying that K L Jalan, managing director, Maruti Heavy Vehicles, requested mission’s assistance in “arranging a meeting with the president or high level official of Cessna aircraft to discuss the sale of Cessna aircraft in India”. Jalan assured the Embassy that his firm has an “immediate sale for two aircraft with a very promising outlook for 20 more units by fiscal year-end, March 1977”.

Jalan requested that the Cessna’s official make a special trip to India within the next 10 days to discuss financial details, the cable said. Four days later, Jalan approached the US Embassy again. This time he told an Embassy official that Maruti wanted to contact Piper Aircraft, another aviation firm, too. “Please inform Mr Robert C Watson, Piper Aircraft Corp, Lock Haven, PA of the approach by Maruti,” the cable to the headquarters said.

Fakruddin Ahmed resented Indira’s family planning policyNew Delhi: Fakruddin Ali Ahmed, the rubberstamp president during the Emergency era, may not have been a complete rubberstamp after all.

According to a secret US Embassy cable sent on August 6, 1976, the mission said, “We have heard much more reliably (than rumours) that Fakruddin is seriously concerned over some of the govt’s family planning moves.” The cable said the rumours have been about “some disaffection between the prime minister and president Fakruddin Ali Ahmed. The stories vary but have as their central core that Fakruddin is concerned that the PM and her son are pushing too hard on the political and constitutional system of India.” TNN
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