Intro: BJP government recovers Rs 1,818 crore from Agusta
It has not even been a month that Narendra Modi has sweared-in as India’s new Prime Minister and he has already proved himself auspicious for the country. The long drawn and tough legal battle on the cards of the country known as Chopper scam or Choppergate is now solved by the newly formed government which was cancelled in spur-of-the-moment by the UPA government because of the alleged involvement of Congress president Sonia Gandhi's family in the deal.
Chopper Scam August 1999, NDA regime
2005 Onward
2012, Italy
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Recently, Defence Minister Arun Jaitley, has recovered the entire amount of Rs 1,818 crore deal, the UPA governemt made with Anglo-Italian company AgustaWestland for purchasing 12 AW 101 helicopters meant for use by VVIPs by invoking bank gurantee, which was scrapped after allegations of bribery and payment of kickbacks. The contract was signed in February 2010 and three helicopters were delivered in 2011 and 2012, and about 30 per cent of the money was paid.
In February 2013, reports surfaced alleging that two top officials of AgustaWestland's Italian parent, defence manufacturer Finmeccanica, had paid bribes to bag the Indian contract. An Italian inquiry into the deal forced India to investigate it too and as a result several Indian politicians and military officials were found accused of accepting bribes from AgustaWestland in order to win the 36 billion (US $610 million).
Ahmed Patel, political secretary to Congress President Sonia Gandhi was alleged by Italian prosecutors to have received kickbacks from the deal. A note dating back to March 15, 2008 presented in the Italian court also indicates that Congress Party President Sonia Gandhi is the driving force behind the VIP chopper purchase. And it further asks middleman Peter Hulett to target key advisors to Sonia Gandhi and lists the names of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Ahmed Patel, Pranab Mukherjee, M. Veerappa Moily, Oscar Fernandez, M. K. Narayanan, Vinay Singh. The note also contains the bribes to be paid out divided as, “AF” €6 Million, “BUR” €8.4 Million, “Pol” €6 Million and “AP” €3 Million.
On March 25, 2013, Defence Minister under UPA regime A.K. Antony confirmed corruption allegations by stating: “Yes, corruption has taken place in the helicopter deal and bribes have been taken.”
On June 7, Defence Minister Arun Jaitley, recovered a total amount of 1,818 crore that the corrupted ministers had paid to AgustaWestland.
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