Bribery case: NBW likely against ex-Louis Berger official

Panaji, Sept 3: The Goa Police is likely to issue a non-bailable arrest warrant against former Louis Berger official James McClung, who had revealed that bribe was paid to win a consultancy contract in Goa.

"Crime Branch had sent summons to McClung last month asking him to appear before the investigating officer within 15 days. He has not responded to the summons. We are now in the process of issuing him a non bailable arrest warrant," a senior police official told PTI on conditions of anonymity.

McClung along with Richard Hirsch (61) of the UAE, both former employees of Louis Berger company had pleaded guilty to the bribery charges before the court in the US. They had accepted to have paid USD 976,630 for a Goa project.

The official said, "We have a mechanism wherein we will be able to issue him an arrest warrant". He, however, refused to divulge the details of how the warrant can be issued to McClung.

The Crime Branch has already arrested former State Public Works Department minister Churchill Alemao and four others in connection with this case.

The US firm had allegedly paid bribe to win consultancy for water augmentation and sewerage line system project to be implemented under Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) funding.

Former state Chief Minister Digambar Kamat, who has also been accused of accepting the bribe, was given anticipatory bail by the district court.

The Crime Branch has challenged his bail before Bombay High Court at Goa. The verdict on the appeal against anticipatory bail would be pronounced this week.

PTI