Chopper Scam: Italian phone tap reveals payoffs in Indian VVIP chopper sale

New Delhi, Oct 25: The India head of helicopter manufacturer Finmeccanica, an Italian company which sold VVIP choppers to the Indian Air Force, is presently under the scanner of Italian authorities, who tapped his phone conversations with a middleman for securing the Rs 3546-crore contract, Indian Express reported. Italian prosecutors, who have been investigating a series of corruption charges against Finmeccanica, tapped the phone of alleged middleman Guido Haschke as part of the probe into the dea.The prosecutors informed the court that they found strong clues that a part of the commission paid was routed through Mauritius and Tunisia. Investigators also claim to have taped conversations between Haschke and unnamed Indian individuals, the IE report said.Details of the Italian probe into the deal are contained in a 100-page court order issued by the Tribunal of Naples Tuesday on the detention of former commercial director of Finmeccanica, Paolo Pozzessere. The Indian defence ministry has so far only sought ‘reports' on the probe in Italy from the embassy in Rome.While the court order mainly focuses on Pozzessere's dealings in selling military equipment to Panama and Brazil, a section is devoted to the controversial Indian deal for 12 helicopters. In this section, the court has noted that Italian investigators are probing allegations that Swiss-based consultant Haschke was paid 51 million euros to swing the Indian deal and that a part of it - 10 million euros - was routed back to Italy and distributed to a political party.However, responding to the court order, Finmeccanica said in a statement that the group or any of its companies “have not paid any form of compensation for mediation connected” with the contracts in question. It has said that Pozzessere stood aside as commercial director of Finmeccanica Group in September 2011 and had since been assigned a role in Russia, as part of industrial activities relating to partnerships in the regional aircraft and defence electronics sectors.While the court document does not have any details about investigators having evidence that money was also paid to Indian officials, it says the prosecutors tapped phone conversations of Haschke with the India head of the Finmeccanica, Girasole Paolo, as well as some unnamed ‘Indian individuals'. “Thanks to phone taps between Haschke and his partner Gerosa Carlo and other Italian and Indian individuals including Director Finmeccanica India Girasole Paolo, elements were found that the money was routed to Tunisia and Mauritius,” the document says.Haschke and Carlo are partners and jointly run the Chandigarh-based services company Aeromatrix that specialises in aerospace among other sectors. Haschke was on the board of Emaar MGF in the past and is known for his connections in the Indian military sector. The court order dwells on the Indian VVIP helicopter deal probe as part of the evidence against Pozzessere, who was in charge of foreign sales. “With reference to the supply of 12 Agusta Westland VVIP helicopters to the Indian government, accusations have emerged from the interrogation of Borgogni Lorenzo (a former employee) that Guido Ralph Haschke obtained 41 million euros for mediation, which is forbidden by Indian law,” the order says.It goes on to say that the allegation being probed is that the 41 million euros fees was increased to 51 million euros allegedly to create ‘black funds' and route it to Italian political parties, “especially to Lega Nord”. Investigations into alleged corruption in the deal picked up pace last week with the the arrest of Haschke, who has since been released on bail. Haschke, who advertises himself as providing ‘Project Advisory Services', was arrested by Swiss authorities for money laundering and other charges.Educated in Milan, the 62-year-old consultant has dual citizenship of Italy and the US. He was believed to have been working on behalf of Agusta Westland which won the VVIP chopper deal in 2010 in an international competition for new generation helicopters that would be operated by the IAF. Another ‘middleman' who has come under the scanner of Italian authorities is Christian Michel - a little known but well-connected British consultant who has been very active in the Indian military business.In February 2010 Agusta Westland won a Rs 3,546 cr contract to supply 12 AW 101s after beating Sikorsky's S-92 Superhawks. The helicopters were set to join this year a fleet of aircraft used by the PM, President and other senior government functionaries.Earlier this year, investigators in Italy began a probe into alleged corruption by Agusta Westland in securing the deal.