Quattrocchi got $7.32 mn: Former CBI chief

Former CBI director Joginder Singh on Tuesday claimed that the agency had proof that Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi had allegedly received $7.32 million as kickbacks in Rs 64 crore Bofors scam.

"There are documents with the CBI showing that Quattrocchi received $7.32 million. The documents have been given by the Swiss authorities themselves," the former CBI director, who brought the documents from Switzerland, said in Delhi.

He claimed that the documents were with the government and the CBI and also part of records in Delhi High Court.

Singh, who had gone to Switzerland in 1997 and brought nearly 500 pages of documents released by Swiss banks, said "when I took over, I found that the CBI had a room full of documents relating to Bofors case but no one had touched them."

Singh said after bringing back the documents he had sent a report to the government in three months.

Asked why the government did not do anything, he said, "It is up to the government to accept it or not. I don't regret because I did my job."

Asked if the decision of dropping the name of Quattrocchi from the Interpol's Red Corner notice was wrong, he said "the government has all the rights...the CBI is not an independent agency. It has to carry out whatever the government says. You may not agree with it but there is option than to carry out whatever they say."