AgustaWestland- Kickback of Rs 160 crore for politicians routed through one single firm

New Delhi, May 18: An amount of Rs 160 crore was earmarked to pay off middlemen, politicians and government officials in connection with the AgustaWestland probe, investigations have found.

The Enforcement Directorate which has a fair picture of the money trail has found that Rs 160 crore was earmarked for the politicians, middlemen and the government officials while another Rs 50 crore was spent on managing the media.

The money earmarked to bribe the high and mighty in India came in through various firms. In the case of the Rs 160 crore it was found that the money was routed through a company in Mohali.

The ED has been probing the role of IDS Tunisia which is a subsidiary of IDS Infotech. Interestingly this subsidiary had just one employee.

Routing the kickbacks:

The ED during its probe learnt that the Mohali based subsidiary was set up with an intention of routing the money. A chargesheet filed in Italy states that the contract mode was peculiar in nature.

The probe also learnt that this company was used to route the money in so that the kickbacks could be paid off to the politicians, middlemen and government officials in Delhi. The money that was routed through this subsidiary is said to be Rs 160 crore. The ED is also probing a trail of Rs 50 crore which was used to manage the media.

The ED is also hot on a money trail to three countries. Finland, Denmark and Norway are the three countries from which the ED has sought details. Out of the Rs 360 crore routed into India, there is a trail that connects the same to various countries.

]The ED has already sought information from the UK, Switzerland, Tunisia, UAE, Mauritius and Italy. So far Italy is the only country that has cooperated while the rest are yet to respond.

The ED says that a fresh request is also being sent to Finland, Norway and Denmark where they have also found a money trail relating to this deal.

OneIndia News