April 2013 News 1: THE CHOPPER DEAL SCAM

THE CHOPPER DEAL SCAM

·        Ex-Air Chief S. P. Tyagi was alleged to have been bribed to swing chopper deal. Italy probe report says.

·        Tyagi denies the charge, says spects tweaked before he became Chief.

·        Middlemen had agreed for 7.5% commission in deal.

In a series of big scandals involving high power persons, has now come one of the biggest scams pertaining to the purchase of choppers for the Indian army.

A day after one of the prestigious newspapers of India reported that the former Air Chief S. P. Tyagi had been accused by Italian investigators of taking a bribe to swing the Augusta Westland VVIP Chopper deal in favour of Finmeccanica, Mr. Tyagi on February 14, 2013 denied the       allegations and demanded a probe. He, however, admitted that he had met the middleman, but did not indulge in any unfair practice. He asserted that he was innocent. He said that the alleged move to favour Augusta Westland-by changing the technical specifications to      allow it to enter the bid-had taken place before he became Air Chief in 2004. The Italian allegation was made in a preliminary inquiry report of the suspected corruption in the 7 3,546 crore deal filed by prosecutors in Italy on February 12, The 64-page report, filed in the tribunal of Busto Arsizio city for the arrest of Finmeccanica CEO Ginseppe Orsi, gives details of the case being investigated by Italian prosecutors and alleges that the then Air Chief S. P. Tyagi, was instrumental in swinging the deal and was paid certain amount of money not yet quantified through intermediaries. It alleged that Tyagi, who was IAF Chief from 2004 to 2007, helped break the technical specifications and kickbacks of 51 million euros (about Z 360 crore) were paid in Italy and India.

Tyagi’s Version : But the former Air Chief said on February 13, 2013 that he had learnt from his colleagues and friends that the specifications were changed in 2003, a year before he became chief.

"I am not just ready for an inquiry but I want an inquiry. I say that the Air Force did not change any requirements when I was the Chief," Tyagi told reporters at his house at Gurgaon.

This is the first time that a service Chief has been named in a probe into alleged corruption in the procurement of defence systems.

The report also named Britain-based consultant Christian Michel as the other major middleman in the deal. It alleges that Michel was paid a "total amount of about 30 million euros, partly destined to support the corrupt activity meant to bag the order and partly to implement the contract".

The report discusses the Indian contract in detail and alleges that technical requirements were tweaked to ensure that the Italian chopper qualifies. As first reported by The Indian Express, the service ceiling requirements for the contract were changed by the Defence Ministry before the tenders were issued in 2006, giving Agusta Westland a chance to qualify.

ITALIAN FIRM MAY LOSE BIG DEAL WORTH RS. 44000 CRORE AFTER SCAM

The Italian firm at the centre of the Euro 3,760 crore VVIP chopper scandal is set to lose potential business worth Z 44,000 (Euro 8 billion) with a bar on taking part in other lucrative military deals almost imminent.

According to highly placed sources the government will suspend business with the Italian state controlled

Finmeccanica while the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probes the allegations that the defence firm bribed a former Air Force Chief to win the contract for supplying 12 Augusta Westland AW101 Choppers.

COPTER SCAM WONT EFFECT TATA VENTURE

The ongoing controversy on alleged payment of bribe by Italian firm Finmeccanica to Indian Defence officials for securing contracts is not likely to have any impact on its Indian joint-venture with the Tata Group.

Agusta Westland, a subsidiary of Finmeccanica, and Tata Sons have a joint venture called Indian Rotorcraft for assembling, customising and flight-testing new helicopters at a facility in Hyderabed for the global market.

"We do not envisage any impact on our plans due to the controversy," said a spokesperson of Indian Rotorcraft.

The joint venture is supposed to start producing the 8-seat AW119Ke light helicopter in 2013.

The facility is set-up on a 10-acre site adjacent to the International Airport at Hyderabad. It would be capable of producing up to 30 helicopters per year and is designed to be further developed for other helicopter types, right up to the 16-ton AW101.