New Delhi:
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which is probing the Rs 3600-crore helicopter deal, questioned the CEO of Aeromatrix, Praveen Bakshi, for second day in a row today.
Italian prosecutors claim that Chandigarh-bases Aeromatrix and IDS Infotech were allegedly used along with their directors and senior executives to route bribes to India along with other firms in the UK, Mauritius and Tunisia.
CBI sources said Mr Bakshi was questioned in detail about the structure of its company, relations with alleged Italian middlemen Guido Ralph Hashcke and Carlo Gerosa and the engineering contracts with Mauritius-based firms. Both Gerosa and Haschke were directors of Aeromatrix at the time the deal was signed.
India had signed an agreement to buy 12 helicopters from Anglo-Italian company, Agusta Westland (AW).
Meanwhile, the Enforcement Directorate (ED), which is probing arms dealer Abhishek Verma, has also begun a probe into allegations of pay-offs in the deal, sources said. The investigating agency will be looking into the accounts of IDS Infotech and Aeromatrix, they added.
Sources said the ED will begin by checking whether the two companies had the necessary clearances from the Software Technology Park of India (STPI), mandatory for exporting software. Both companies have explained the payments as remuneration for software development. The agency will also check if the companies submitted their periodical reports with the Reserve Bank of India as per government rules.
The ED will also question Mr Bakshi as well as the executives of IDS Infotech.
After the scandal broke, US attorney Edward Allen had forwarded emails between Abhishek Verma and Agusta Westland to Indian agencies in the last week of February, but investigators say they have found no link between Mr Verma and the VVIP chopper deal yet. Mr Allen's 25-page testimony recorded by the CBI-ED team in October is expected to be part of a chargesheet soon.