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Verma, wife in CBI net for tweaking defence deals - The Times of India
The CBI on Friday arrested controversial businessman Abhishek Verma and his wife Anca Neacsu for allegedly seeking to manipulate India's defence orders to suit his clients.
The arrests came a day after the agency filed a case of corruption against him and a Swiss defence company and raided numerous premises in the national capital region.
Claiming to have evidence of Verma receiving more than half a million dollars from the European defence firm and acting on allegations that he may have parked a few hundred million dollars in an escrow account in the United States, the agency is widening its probe against Verma, who is being prosecuted for allegedly leaking defence secrets in what is known as the navy war room leak case.
CBI suspects that the bulk of the money in Verma's US escrow account may be kickbacks that he allegedly received from various foreign companies for manipulating Indian government deals.
Sources said the investigations could spread to cover more defence firms that may have links to Verma.
Swiss company gave $530,000 to Verma's firm in US
The defence deal drama involving controversial businessman Abhishek Verma and his wife Anca Neacsu is set to get murkier as at least three more firms figure in details provided by Verma's estranged US attorney , C Edmonds Allen to the CBI. The attorney, after their fallout, wrote to Indian authorities providing details about an escrow account in the US and money received in it from various companies for fixing deals.
CBI sources said they have been able to verify the evidence of a payment of $530,000 from Rheinmetall Air Defence (RAD), Zurich, to Verma's company in the US.
CBI sources said that Verma was until Friday evasive in explaining about the money deposited by Rheinmetall in the account of Ganton Limited, a Verma company, according to Allen. Verma has denied the charges. In written comments to TOI, Verma had said in May, "Please ask C Edmonds Allen about ... who is the president and owner of Ganton Group. I have nothing to do with Ganton India nor other group companies of Ganton."
Sources said Verma reached the CBI headquarters in the morning, accompanied by Neacsu, and they were questioned for the entire day. Later in the evening, the agency placed both of them under arrest.
According to CBI sources, $530,000 was deposited by the Swiss company on February 17, 2011, in the US escrow account of Ganton. This was after the ministry of defence had initiated the process to blacklist six defence firms, including RAD, after CBI reported in 2010 about evidence of them bribing Sudipto Ghosh, an ex-chairman of ordnance factory board. The payment to Verma was to get RAD removed from the blacklisting .
In its case filed on Thursday , the CBI has named Verma , RAD and other unknown persons under section eight and 12 of the Prevention of Corruption Act. After registering the case, 10 CBI teams, who were later joined by the criminal investigation unit of Income Tax, swooped down at 10 locations in Delhi and Gurgaon which included four premises of Verma, offices of RAD in Vasant Vihar and Satya Niketan and farmhouse of its director Mohinder Singh Sahni in Kishangarh and three associates of Verma, they said. Sahni also figures in the 'undesirable contact men' list circulated by the CBI to senior government officials recently.
Police said the other foreigners aboard were a Dutchman, a Czech and a Swede
The CBI on Friday arrested controversial businessman Abhishek Verma and his wife Anca Neacsu for allegedly seeking to manipulate India's defence orders to suit his clients.
The arrests came a day after the agency filed a case of corruption against him and a Swiss defence company and raided numerous premises in the national capital region.
Claiming to have evidence of Verma receiving more than half a million dollars from the European defence firm and acting on allegations that he may have parked a few hundred million dollars in an escrow account in the United States, the agency is widening its probe against Verma, who is being prosecuted for allegedly leaking defence secrets in what is known as the navy war room leak case.
CBI suspects that the bulk of the money in Verma's US escrow account may be kickbacks that he allegedly received from various foreign companies for manipulating Indian government deals.
Sources said the investigations could spread to cover more defence firms that may have links to Verma.
Swiss company gave $530,000 to Verma's firm in US
The defence deal drama involving controversial businessman Abhishek Verma and his wife Anca Neacsu is set to get murkier as at least three more firms figure in details provided by Verma's estranged US attorney , C Edmonds Allen to the CBI. The attorney, after their fallout, wrote to Indian authorities providing details about an escrow account in the US and money received in it from various companies for fixing deals.
CBI sources said they have been able to verify the evidence of a payment of $530,000 from Rheinmetall Air Defence (RAD), Zurich, to Verma's company in the US.
CBI sources said that Verma was until Friday evasive in explaining about the money deposited by Rheinmetall in the account of Ganton Limited, a Verma company, according to Allen. Verma has denied the charges. In written comments to TOI, Verma had said in May, "Please ask C Edmonds Allen about ... who is the president and owner of Ganton Group. I have nothing to do with Ganton India nor other group companies of Ganton."
Sources said Verma reached the CBI headquarters in the morning, accompanied by Neacsu, and they were questioned for the entire day. Later in the evening, the agency placed both of them under arrest.
According to CBI sources, $530,000 was deposited by the Swiss company on February 17, 2011, in the US escrow account of Ganton. This was after the ministry of defence had initiated the process to blacklist six defence firms, including RAD, after CBI reported in 2010 about evidence of them bribing Sudipto Ghosh, an ex-chairman of ordnance factory board. The payment to Verma was to get RAD removed from the blacklisting .
In its case filed on Thursday , the CBI has named Verma , RAD and other unknown persons under section eight and 12 of the Prevention of Corruption Act. After registering the case, 10 CBI teams, who were later joined by the criminal investigation unit of Income Tax, swooped down at 10 locations in Delhi and Gurgaon which included four premises of Verma, offices of RAD in Vasant Vihar and Satya Niketan and farmhouse of its director Mohinder Singh Sahni in Kishangarh and three associates of Verma, they said. Sahni also figures in the 'undesirable contact men' list circulated by the CBI to senior government officials recently.
Police said the other foreigners aboard were a Dutchman, a Czech and a Swede
Abhishek Verma and His wife, lmao.
