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Final Charges Dropped Over Indian AW101 Deal

Major Shaitan Singh

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With a few typewritten lines, magistrates have closed the legal affair that led the former president and CEO of Finmeccanica, Giuseppe Orsi, and the former CEO of AgustaWestland, Bruno Spagnolini, being charged with bribery over the sale of 12 AgustaWestland helicopters (a Finmeccanica unit, of which Orsi was CEO at the time—Ed.) to the Indian government. An international contract worth €556 million, of which the prosecution claimed €51 million were used to pay bribes to secure the contract.

Magistrates in Naples began the investigation in 2010, but the case was transferred to Busto Arsizio in 2013 by the Attorney General of the Supreme Court. The investigation was sparked by the former head of external relations of Finmeccanica, Lorenzo Borgogni, who told magistrates that bribes had been paid, some of them -- about 10 million euros – to the Northern League, a right-wing political party.

These allegations led to charges of illegal financing being filed against Orsi, Spagnolini and three other suspects, and created a legal “storm” around the Northern League, which was already struggling with a separate investigation into the “cheerful” financial management by its former treasurer, Belsito. The Northern League has always denied any link to the helicopter sale, and its secretary at the time -- and now governor of Lombardy, Roberto Maroni -- had filed a complaint for slander against Borgogni in Busto Arsizio.

Two years later, at the request of the same magistrate, the investigating judge of Busto Arsizio, Luca Labianca, has now dropped the case on the grounds that the hypothesis of illicit payments to the League "has always remained in the background, but no confirmation has ever been found despite investigations." In short, there is no evidence "that can be sustained" in court. Case closed.

"I've always said that the hypothesis of financing the League through the sale of the AW 101 helicopters to India was a complete invention," Giuseppe Orsi, the former CEO of Finmeccanica, told AdnKronos after the charges were dropped. The story, Orsi said, was "orchestrated slander by someone who will now have to answer for it."

The current secretary of the Northern League, Matteo Salvini, is incredulous at the silence that has greeted the dropping of the bribery charges. "Unbelievable. We were vilified for weeks. There were dozens of front pages of slander, and now there’s not a single word. We said from the outset -- adds Salvini -- that the League had not been given a single euro yet we were vilified for months.”

From Tel Aviv, Maroni said "I am also waiting for excuses over the false Finmeccanica bribery claims, as I was reeled in, wire-tapped and followed for years on the basis of an obvious falsehood. I express solidarity with Giuseppe Orsi, and with all those whose lives were ruined by those four rascals. Will someone ever pay for the damage that this affair has done to the League, to the companies of the Finmeccanica group, and to Italy?"


(EDITOR’S NOTE: By dropping the final charges still standing, the prosecution has acknowledged that it never had a valid case to prosecute, and that the two Finmeccanica executives were charged and put on trial on the uncorroborated allegations of a single person, Lorenzo Borgogni, who had been fired by Orsi.
This is a new embarrassment for the Italian judiciary, since a single investigating magistrate – Eugenio Fusco, to give him his due -- was able to charge and prosecute two top executives at one of the country’s largest companies on the basis of lies.
Although the charges are now known to be false, as many had maintained from the beginning, the two executives have nonetheless lost their jobs, the Indian government has canceled the €560 million contract, AgustaWestland has had to pay hundreds of million euros in surety and performance bonds, and countless people had had their reputations ruined. Who will pay for the damages suffered?
And it’s not over yet.
India is continuing its own investigations, and although having so far failed to find any evidence of bribery – which the Italian court says never happened – its Enforcement Directorate and Central Bureau of Investigation have not dropped charges against over a dozen people.
Not a glorious episode for Italy’s judicial system, nor for India’s politicians who jumped the gun by canceling the contract with no evidence, nor for India’s police.
Finally, those who have followed this sad affair from the beginning will remember that the investigations in Italy began after stories alleging bribery were published in the Indian media, sparked by parliamentary questions by a handful of MPs.
Proponents of conspiracy theories could have a field day digging into when, how and with whose assistance this affair was artificially created, inflated and prosecuted until the day – yesterday – when it inevitably deflated under its own weight.)



Northern League Money for Helicopters to India: Magistrates Drop Charges; Orsi and Salvini: "Now, We Want Excuses"
 
By dropping the final charges still standing, the prosecution has acknowledged that it never had a valid case to prosecute
What is the implication of this judgement on the deal? Will it affect Indian investigation and if so in what way?
The point is if an international court drops charges, it implies that the whole case is on shaky ground (atleast legally speaking) and in view of same would cancelling the deal hold any merit at all?
VVIP transport choppers are required quite urgently and in absence of any option and after cancelling the deal, India is left with little options. I'm not sure if the deal can be revived but if it turns out that AW didnot dwell into any unfair practices, it would turn out to be quite an embarrassment for out defence Establishment.
@Abingdonboy
 
What is the implication of this judgement on the deal? Will it affect Indian investigation and if so in what way?
The point is if an international court drops charges, it implies that the whole case is on shaky ground (atleast legally speaking) and in view of same would cancelling the deal hold any merit at all?
VVIP transport choppers are required quite urgently and in absence of any option and after cancelling the deal, India is left with little options. I'm not sure if the deal can be revived but if it turns out that AW didnot dwell into any unfair practices, it would turn out to be quite an embarrassment for out defence Establishment.
@Abingdonboy
Well, like I've been saying since this whole episode began, the Indian politicians ("Saint" Antony) acted hastily and capitulated to the the ignorant Indian media.


Anyway, as the article stated, the Indian side is running their own separate investigation and the rulings of the Italian court won't affect their efforts much at all but it does show that they are unlikely to produce any results because there is no wrongdoing to uncover. The Attorney General of India has already outlined the framework for the MoD to deal with AW in defence deals because of a dearth of evidence against them.

Realistically the AW-101 deal should be revived now- 3 AW-101s are sat at Palam Airbase gathering dust, the IAF already has the aircrews trained and there is no replacement for the Mi-8s used for VVIP transport on the horizon (no tender/RFI/RFP has even been announced!) despite the fact these helos will be out of service by the end of this year.
 
So are we getting anything at all or what?
Well that is the $1 billion dollar question! Because of the clowns in the UPA (I'm talking to you Mr Antony) India has not only been left without these vital assets to fly the highest officials in the land and thus have been forced to fly helos that should have been retired a long time ago but India's image has also been tarnished on the global stage immeasurably by unilaterally cancelling this deal and cashing in the securities AW had put up. It literally is the worst os both worlds and there is no silver lining at all.

Let's hope pragmatism prevails in the MoD/GoI now and the deal is restored otherwise this entire mess and the millions India has spent will have been for zilch. There is the absurd situation where there are 3 AW-101s in India that are grounded and numerous IAF air and ground crews have been trained on a aircraft they can't use.


Restore some sanity Mr Parrikar......
 
No wrongdoing took place so why?

You're commiting the sin of saying that there was no wrong doing in a UPA deal. Subramania Swamy will now say Sonia made the Italian court drop the charges. He has already claimed that Sonia skimmed off $2 B off the Rafale deal.
 
You're commiting the sin of saying that there was no wrong doing in a UPA deal. Subramania Swamy will now say Sonia made the Italian court drop the charges. He has already claimed that Sonia skimmed off $2 B off the Rafale deal.
He's a loudmouth with no actual insight into any of these deals, it scary that some people actually listen to him but this is the world we live in.

I've said since the start that there was no evidence of any wrongdoing in this deal all we were seeing was some political posturing in Italy, the Indian media got involved and we know what happened....

This is the mess that can be created when you have ignorant journalists chasing TRPs and not the news or facts....
 
He's a loudmouth with no actual insight into any of these deals, it scary that some people actually listen to him but this is the world we live in.

I've said since the start that there was no evidence of any wrongdoing in this deal all we were seeing was some political posturing in Italy, the Indian media got involved and we know what happened....

This is the mess that can be created when you have ignorant journalists chasing TRPs and not the news or facts....

True, to some extent I understand Antony's stand. He spent all his 40+ years in politics maintaining a clean and honest image and was scared that his stint in MOD will eventually get dragged down by the likes of swamy. So he just decided to be 'inertly bereaucratic' about it. Can't lame the guy- he is one of the few people we know who exited the MOD with an image as squaky clean as he got in. Of course defence preparedness suffered in the process.
 
True, to some extent I understand Antony's stand. He spent all his 40+ years in politics maintaining a clean and honest image and was scared that his stint in MOD will eventually get dragged down by the likes of swamy. So he just decided to be 'inertly bereaucratic' about it. Can't lame the guy- he is one of the few people we know who exited the MOD with an image as squaky clean as he got in. Of course defence preparedness suffered in the process.
I absolutely understand his motivations, to him protecting himself, or more specifically his image, was more important than serving his nation and its military/national security.

Sure it is important to be "clean" (and perceived to be as such) especially in Indian politics BUT if the only way you can ensure this is by inaction then I can't say this man is much better than any of his predecessors who may have left office with a less "clean" image as the end result was the same i.e. the Indian military suffers. In fact, I'd argue that under Antony's tenure the Indian Mil was hurt more than under most DMs so his covering of his own backside cost the nation dearly, I can't respect that- that isn't good leadership nor being a good person as far as I am concerned.

In my opinion Antony has the blood of a number of servicemen on his hands most notably those who died in Cheetak/Cheetah crashes- failing to get the RSH deal signed is his biggest failing as far as I am concerned alongside creating a culture of paralysis and cancelling deals at the mere suggestion of graft thereby opening the door to competitors to exploit this to a despicable degree.
 
No wrongdoing took place so why?

I am not a big fan of VIP culture. That is why.

Besides its pretty evident plenty of wrong doing took place, only not enough to prove in the court. Italians are not exactly known for their "honesty". :P
 
I am not a big fan of VIP culture. That is why.
Neither am I, but providing an ultra safe helicopter (which the AW-101 is) for the top-most leadership of India (PM, President, DM and Service chiefs ONLY) is an absolute necessity and nothing to do with "VIP culture". These helos wouldn't be used by just any Tom, Dick or Harry.
 
Neither am I, but providing an ultra safe helicopter (which the AW-101 is) for the top-most leadership of India (PM, President, DM and Service chiefs ONLY) is an absolute necessity and nothing to do with "VIP culture". These helos wouldn't be used by just any Tom, Dick or Harry.

I do not see whey they cannot use a normal Two engine helicopter like everybody else.
 
I do not see whey they cannot use a normal Two engine helicopter like everybody else.
Like I said, these are the most important people in your country- they are not like "everybody else" it is worth spending the extra few million to provide them that extra level of safety. Just like not everybody is driven in bulletproof cars and protected by SPG officers but surely the PM deserves such measures.
 
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