Nearly Blacklisted, Finmeccanica Could Lose BIG In India

[Abingdonboy]

@arp2041 @KRAIT

+ one last point


I think this is unlikely to affect the Rafale deal for a number of reasons-

1) By the time the deal is likely to be signed this story will either have blown over or the truth (that there is no fsult on the Indian side) will have come out.
2) France/Dassualt are not involved in this Italian/UK/Finmeccanica/AW scandel
3) At every stage the IAF and all contenders have stated the MMRCA deal has been conducted in an open,transparent and fair way.
4) If anyone remembers last year when the Rafale was announced as the winner and there was some d!ckhead MP who claimed this and that- he was silenced pretty expeditiously so if a similar case arises again the MoD has proven it can deal with such BS and in a swift manner.
5) as of yet there is no real grumbles about the Rafale deal- I hope this continues.
6) Unlike the AW-101 deal, there is significant pressure being placed by the IAF and,to an extent, the Indian people for the closing of the MMRCA saga. Whilst the IAF may be insisting on the same for the AW-101 case their voices will not be as loud or protests as well received as most people do not care about helos for VVIPs .
7) There are serious potential legal ramifications from this AW deal for the Indian media who have engaged in some extensive defamation of certain individuals and organisations so I expect/hope next time such a case arises, with the Rafale deal, where there are murmurs- they will keep silent and do some research before opening their collective big mouth(s).

 

[WHITESMOKE]

If what I believe is happening- is actually happening, then I think India could, in a round about way, end up doing well(ish) from this deal and it would be not too far off what you have said. India is entitled to serious compensation (>$1BN) and still has the right to keep existing helos and accept delivery of the remaining 9 as the deal has not been cancelled to date. And like you say, Finmeccanica is going to want to smooth over this whole affair as quickly as possible or risk losing in excess of $10BN in potential future orders.

True and that will be a welcome step. Finmeccanica should avoid the black listing at any cosy since the scope of future business in India is many times more. If blacklisted, who knows how it may afftect Finmeccanica-TATA JV also even though the later has denied such possibility. Its a matter of few days now that the outcome of show-cause notice sent to Finmeccanica by GOI will be in news.

 

[Abingdonboy]

True and that will be a welcome step. Finmeccanica should avoid the black listing at any cosy since the scope of future business in India is many times more. If blacklisted, who knows how it may afftect Finmeccanica-TATA JV also even though the later has denied such possibility. Its a matter of few days now that the outcome of show-cause notice sent to Finmeccanica by GOI will be in news.

Additionally who knows the impact this deal will have on the Finmeccanica group (AW included) as a whole? These revleations are bound to send shock-waves the world-over. What Finmeccanica/AW have done is defraud their customers and then allowed these customers become involved in an Italian internal corruption investigation. Do you think any nation would want to do any business with Finmeccanica/AW after this escapade?!!


Even if Finmeccanica is able to escape blacklisting (I don't know how likely this is) we've got to assume that this scandal is going to have a serious effect on the remaining mega deals with India and any future deals India may launch. Even not explicitly mentioned or stated does any of us seriously expect India to buy any defence equipment from the Finmeccanica group in the near future?? What the Italians and Finmeccanica have done is just unbelievably moronic and despicable and I wouldn't blame the GoI/MoD if they didn't want anything more to do with these guys/

 

[WHITESMOKE]

Additionally who knows the impact this deal will have on the Finmeccanica group (AW included) as a whole? These revleations are bound to send shock-waves the world-over. What Finmeccanica/AW have done is defraud their customers and then allowed these customers become involved in an Italian internal corruption investigation. Do you think any nation would want to do any business with Finmeccanica/AW after this escapade?!!


Even if Finmeccanica is able to escape blacklisting (I don't know how likely this is) we've got to assume that this scandal is going to have a serious effect on the remaining mega deals with India and any future deals India may launch. Even not explicitly mentioned or stated does any of us seriously expect India to buy any defence equipment from the Finmeccanica group in the near future?? What the Italians and Finmeccanica have done is just unbelievably moronic and despicable and I wouldn't blame the GoI/MoD if they didn't want anything more to do with these guys/

Additionally I noticed two other things which are very important and happened quickly. One is the speed of action taken by GOI as the deal has name "Italy" in it. Bofors is still haunting Congress so they cant afford to have another in their backyard and even just one year before the elections. Second was the statement given by French President that their is no corruption in Rafale deal even though he was not required to issue such statement. So these two things itself tells the magnitude of shockwave sent by Finmeccanica scandal and vulnerability of Congress party. We will still have to wait for legal proof if any Indian was involved in the kickbacks and I am not sure how the laws state in India if kickbacks are paid to any foreign dealer. This could be the only way for Finmeccania to stay alive in India.

 

[KS]

Additionally I noticed two other things which are very important and happened quickly. One is the speed of action taken by GOI as the deal has name "Italy" in it. .

There was no 'speed'. Times now broke this story 11 months back and Prakash Javadekar followed up on that and questioned the deal in Parliament. The Govt said we will look into it and it was silently forgotten. This matter is again in focus only because of the arrests in Italy.

Anyway the cover-up has already begun with the Italians refusing to share the documents,evidences with us. This will be another in the long list of scams unearthed but un-investigated and gradually forgotten in time.

 

[Abingdonboy]

Additionally I noticed two other things which are very important and happened quickly. One is the speed of action taken by GOI as the deal has name "Italy" in it. Bofors is still haunting Congress so they cant afford to have another in their backyard and even just one year before the elections. Second was the statement given by French President that their is no corruption in Rafale deal even though he was not required to issue such statement. So these two things itself tells the magnitude of shockwave sent by Finmeccanica scandal and vulnerability of Congress party. We will still have to wait for legal proof if any Indian was involved in the kickbacks and I am not sure how the laws state in India if kickbacks are paid to any foreign dealer. This could be the only way for Finmeccania to stay alive in India.

Wrt the GoI's response I think there is a number of reason behind this:

1)Bofors casts a long shadow, even today
2) The UPA-2 has been hit with corruption charge again and again and they need to prove that, for once, there is no substance to these allegations.
3) In the past the GoI was accused of acting too slowly in response to such allegations, this time I'd say they've been too hasty-but whatever.
4)The up coming Parliamentary session is critical for not just the GoI/Congress but for India as a whole as they need to set the groundwork for 2014 elections and for this they need- NEED- to bring about major reforms ans must begin these in the next parliament session, if the opposition is jumping up and down over this deal the GoI cannot get what they want done.
5) In this case the GoI is certain they are not in the wrong so why not go all out on the offensive and meet these allegations head on?

 

[WHITESMOKE]

There was no 'speed'. Times now broke this story 11 months back and Prakash Javadekar followed up on that and questioned the deal in Parliament. The Govt said we will look into it and it was silently forgotten. This matter is again in focus only because of the arrests in Italy.

Anyway the cover-up has already begun with the Italians refusing to share the documents,evidences with us. This will be another in the long list of scams unearthed but un-investigated and gradually forgotten in time.

I think I should have mentioned "After arrests in Italy". Regarding evidence sharing by Italy, we can not paint it black and white as easily. This scam may involve many high rank guys in Italy and this would be like a national shame for them so I am pretty sure they will never cooperate fully. No nation wants others to involve in their domestic affairs. That is other story to be solved who was involved in India (Finding proofs)

Wrt the GoI's response I think there is a number of reason behind this:

1)Bofors casts a long shadow, even today
2) The UPA-2 has been hit with corruption charge again and again and they need to prove that, for once, there is no substance to these allegations.
3) In the past the GoI was accused of acting too slowly in response to such allegations, this time I'd say they've been too hasty-but whatever.
4)The up coming Parliamentary session is critical for not just the GoI/Congress but for India as a whole as they need to set the groundwork for 2014 elections and for this they need- NEED- to bring about major reforms ans must begin these in the next parliament session, if the opposition is jumping up and down over this deal the GoI cannot get what they want done.
5) In this case the GoI is certain they are not in the wrong so why not go all out on the offensive and meet these allegations head on?

So lets wait for the reply of Finmeccania and developments in Italy.

 

[WHITESMOKE]

Solo Antony hand behind cancellation of VVIP chopper deal

NEW DELHI: The untold story of the way the ministry of defence (MoD) went about on Friday to kick start the process for the termination of one of India's biggest defence deals also captures the politics of A K Antony and potential ramifications of the latest corruption scam to have hit UPA-II.

Antony neither took the cancellation decision to the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) nor consulted any other senior member of the Cabinet when he made the decisive move. Sources said the MoD sees no need for time-consuming consultations, and now might send only the final contract termination notice for law ministry's examination.

This perhaps is the only instance of this kind where a decision of this magnitude had been taken without running it past the PMO. The significance of "unilateralism" is best indicated by the fact that the VVIP helicopter deal will be the biggest defence contract to have been scrapped if Antony chooses to go the full distance.

The show of autonomy is reflective of Antony's resolve to protect his turf, especially when it comes to dealing with corruption. Many close to him see the latest scandal as the "agnipariksha'', which would decide his legacy in the ministry.

He has often been criticised for waffling on crucial decisions including modernisation of the armed forces, but Antony has shown little inclination to divert from his "zero threshold" stance on corruption, blacklisting and penalizing firms as soon as charges of corruption against them are established.

While many don't see much merit in blacklisting and cancellation of contracts, Antony has carried on regardless, earning for himself a unique distinction in the process: In his six years as defence minister, he has blacklisted more companies than all his predecessors combined. The six companies he has blacklisted include Singapore Technology Kinetics, German conglomerate Rheinmetall and Israel Military Industries (IMI). He also invoked the integrity pact to recover the Rs 224-crore bank guarantee from IMI.

This is besides his decision to call in both the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate on the complaints against middleman Abhishek Verma.

In all those instances Antony came under tremendous pressure from politicians, including some from his own party, and diplomats. Many of the meetings of ambassadors with him during these six years were marked by protests against his decisions, one official pointed out.

But all the pressure came after he had taken the decision. "Even when you point out to him difficulties caused by widespread blacklisting of big international firms, his refrain is: Let the law take its course," says a senior official.

"His concerns about others trying to unduly influence, adversely or otherwise, his stand on corruption may be the reason behind this turf protection," another senior official said. So, Antony didn't wait for the wisdom of larger consultations: something which does regularly while taking political decisions.

In the latest case, while the MoD was in touch with the ministry of external affairs (MEA), Indian missions and others for the past several months, it did not consult anyone before issuing the termination show-cause notice.

There may be a reason for Antony's reluctance to wait for inputs from other ministries. In the VVIP chopper deal, it discovered that his sense of urgency with regard to investigating corruption charges is not always shared by other wings. The first official communication from MoD to the Indian Embassy in Rome inquiring about allegations of corruption by Finmeccanica and its subsidiary AgustaWestland had gone out at the first sniff of sleaze; as early as February 2012 from the ministry's director-general (acquisitions).

The communication to the Indian Embassy in Rome was followed by another letter in April, 2012. It was in May, 2012 that the Embassy replied saying it was very difficult to obtain formal details because of the independence of judiciary from the executive. The MoD wrote in July, 2012 and the defence secretary wrote to MEA's secretary (west) in October, 2012. The exchanges continued with no concrete result.

Antony has since been accused of not acting promptly when the allegations of corruption first surfaced.

So, this time once the court documents were filed this week in Italy, MOD obtained them from the court's website. And the IAF engaged a translator. Once this translation was available to the ministry, Antony ordered the cancellation. One senior official said there was no discussion even about the need for sending the show-cause notice for legal scrutiny.

Antony's possessive stand on protecting his turf, especially when it comes to action against corruption, is intricately linked to his reputation in public life. And possible fear of undue influence being brought on him on issues related to corruption.

But administering India's defence ministry is not an easy task, a fact Antony has learned in the most difficult way. In the six years that he has been in South Block, several controversies have shaken it up, and often many used it to question the senior Congress leader's qualifications to administer the complex ministry.

Antony has been withstanding even the collective wisdom of his cabinet colleagues on many of the most controversial issues, despite criticisms about his decisions. This lonely pursuit of certain decisions was most noticeable when a recalcitrant former Army chief General V K Singh put up a fight over his age. In January 2012 when Gen Singh went to Supreme Court, Antony was flooded with recommendations from his cabinet colleagues and other politicians to sack the Army chief. However, he stood his ground, and let Gen Singh retire in normal course. Many thought, especially after intelligence inputs emerged about unauthorised troop movement towards Delhi when Gen Singh went to court, that Antony was more lenient than necessary.

This time, many who work closely with him, argue that Antony wouldn't show any such leniency, nor would be open to counsel.
For him, it is the way how he handles the VVIP chopper scam which could decide his political legacy.
@Abingdonboy
@ KS Seems a good read

 

[Paan Singh]

Mission to sabotage probe is on course

In India, there are many ways of sabotaging investigations into allegations of corruption in defence deals. The most secure way is to refer such cases to the CBI, which has over the past 30 years built up a pretty solid record of not cracking any of the cases involving corrupt defence deals that were referred to it.

So it isn’t entirely surprising, as this report makes clear, that even a full week after the allegations of alleged kickbacks in the AgustaWestland copter deal came roaring back, the CBI has not yet registered a case in the matter. Although the Defence Ministry lodged a primary complaint some days ago, the investigating agency evidently claims that in the absence of specific allegations or complaints against an Indian company or an Indian citizen, it is unable to proceed in the matter.

According to the report, the CBI claims that it “virtually drew a blank” from the Defence Ministry when it sought official inputs about allegations of kickbacks in the Rs 3,528 crore deal for the purchase of 12 VVIP helicopters from AgustaWestland. All it received were a letter asking the agency to conduct a probe, and some press clippings – from the Indian and Italian media. And these, in its estimation, could not form the basis for registering a case.

The CBI cites more instances of a lack of urgency on the part of Indian officials in assisting the investigation. It had evidently sought the help of Indian diplomats in Rome to secure authenticated court documents, but has again not made any headway. And since no case has been registered by the agency, even Interpol, whose help the CBI had sought, had indicated that it could not help.

On top of that, even the Italian courts have said that they will not be able to share details of the case at this stage of the trial, since the investigations are still proceeding, and must perforce be wrapped in secrecy if they are to make headway. They have, however, given room to believe that at a later stage of the trial, when the investigations have been more fully concluded, Indian investigators could gain access to the details.

Already, the stage has been set for the CBI to claim that it is running into brick walls in the investigation, since no international agency – or even the Defence Ministry – is willing to cooperate. The fact that it hasn’t taken the first step towards advancing the investigation – by registering a case – appears to have escaped its attention.

In earlier instances of corruption into defence deals, too, the Indian establishment has been artful in sabotaging the investigations – even when they were proceeding in overseas jurisdictions, where typically they would not have been in a position to influence the course of the probe.

In the Bofors case, for instance, when the investigations in Switzerland were proceeding at an embarrassing pace for the Congress government, Madhavsinh Solanki, who served as Minister for External Affairs in the PV Narasimha Rao government, used the occasion of a visit to the World Economic Forum summit in Davos to intervene to sabotage the proceedings in the Bofors investigation. As court documents of that time make clear (details here), Solanki sought an appointment with Swiss Foreign Minister Rene Felber, and asked that there be no witnesses present at the meeting. At that meeting, Solanki handed over an envelope to Felber, which contained an unsigned, typed memoradum which claimed that since “new information” had emerged in the Bofors case, the Swiss government should take no action on the letters rogatory that had been issued by an Indian court seeking details of the court proceedings and cooperation in the investigation in Switzerland.

For that blatant effort to sabotage the investigation, Solanki paid with his job – although, of course, he would encash his IOU with the Congress years later.

Likewise, as KP Nayar reveals in The Telegraph (here), Indian diplomats in Dubai, evidently under instructions from the political establishment in Delhi, were playing a duplicitous double-game in the Bofors case. At the same time that Indian diplomats were delivering written requests for the extradition of arms agent Win Chadha in the Bofors case, they were also telling authorities in the emirate not to repatriate him. “Naturally, the Dubai government went by the oral advice of the diplomats in person and not the written requests,” Nayar writes.

In the AgustaWestland case, however, the Indian government appears not to have any political goodwill to exert its influence over the Italian government or the due process of law largely because of the shadow of the case involving two Italian Marines who are being tried in India in connection with the shooting incident off the Kerala coast last year, points out the report.

Although the Indian External Affairs Ministry appeared keen to accommodate Italian requests for a joint investigation, the Central government was swayed by the popular outrage in Kerala over the incident, which the Congress government channelled to take a hard line against the Italian request. The Indian government, therefore, had to persuade the Italian government to back off, claiming that the independent judiciary in India was well placed to render justice in this case.

The Italian reluctance to accommodate Indian investigators’ request for details is being seen as a way of paying back the Indian government in its own coin.

Which opens up the interesting possibility: will political pressure be brought to bear on the trial in the case of the Italian Marines – in order for the Indian government to gain some wiggle room with the Italian government in the AgustaWestland investigation? After all, any case is only as good as the prosecution, and as the recent sensational exposure of the “collusion” between the prosecutor in the 2G scam case and one of the accused showed, there are ways of sabotaging the case even when it has come to trial – and is being overseen by the Supreme Court.

Firstpost - » Chopper scam: Mission to sabotage probe is on course

 

[cloud_9]

A country with per capita income of $1200 buys $50 million + choppers to ferry their VVIP's
Hopefully they will all explode mid air

 

[anant_s]

My heart sinks, when i think the formidable C 27J may not be able to participate in future indian tenders.

 

[Iggy]

+ The cancellation of deal will affect the Trustworthiness of India as credible defence importer nation as even the successful arms bidder will be skeptic if he will really be able to sell weapons to India or not. As it is the deal was sign some 5-6 years back & IAF has already inducted 3 choppers & now we are talking about the cancellation of the deal resulting into huge losses for AW which will inturn make every foreign arms vendor skeptic & scared of entering Indian Arms Market.

@arp2041, if media claim is right, the deal specifically states that there will be no middlemen or bribe shall not paid to any one.. It was AW who breached the contract.. How is it that India responisble for that?? AW is responsible for all this mess, now they have to pay for it.. Its as simple as that...

 

[kurup]

Solo Antony hand behind cancellation of VVIP chopper deal

The untold story of the way the ministry of defence (MoD) went about on Friday to kick start the process for the termination of one of India’s biggest defence deals also captures the politics of A K Antony and potential ramifications of the latest corruption scam to have hit UPA-II.

Antony neither took the cancellation decision to the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) nor consulted any other senior member of the Cabinet when he made the decisive move. Sources said the MoD sees no need for time-consuming consultations, and now might send only the final contract termination notice for law ministry’s examination.

This perhaps is the only instance of this kind where a decision of this magnitude had been taken without running it past the PMO. The significance of “unilateralism” is best indicated by the fact that the VVIP helicopter deal will be the biggest defence contract to have been scrapped if Antony chooses to go the full distance.

The show of autonomy is reflective of Antony’s resolve to protect his turf, especially when it comes to dealing with corruption. Many close to him see the latest scandal as the “agnipariksha”, which would decide his legacy in the ministry.

He has often been criticised for waffling on crucial decisions including modernisation of the armed forces, but Antony has shown little inclination to divert from his “zero threshold” stance on corruption, blacklisting and penalizing firms as soon as charges of corruption against them are established.

While many don’t see much merit in blacklisting and cancellation of contracts, Antony has carried on regardless, earning for himself a unique distinction in the process: In his six years as defence minister, he has blacklisted more companies than all his predecessors combined. The six companies he has blacklisted include Singapore Technology Kinetics, German conglomerate Rheinmetall and Israel Military Industries (IMI). He also invoked the integrity pact to recover the Rs 224-crore bank guarantee from IMI.

This is besides his decision to call in both the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate on the complaints against middleman Abhishek Verma.

In all those instances Antony came under tremendous pressure from politicians, including some from his own party, and diplomats. Many of the meetings of ambassadors with him during these six years were marked by protests against his decisions, one official pointed out.

But all the pressure came after he had taken the decision. “Even when you point out to him difficulties caused by widespread blacklisting of big international firms, his refrain is: Let the law take its course,” says a senior official.

“His concerns about others trying to unduly influence, adversely or otherwise, his stand on corruption may be the reason behind this turf protection,” another senior official said. So, Antony didn’t wait for the wisdom of larger consultations: something which does regularly while taking political decisions.

In the latest case, while the MoD was in touch with the ministry of external affairs (MEA), Indian missions and others for the past several months, it did not consult anyone before issuing the termination show-cause notice.

There may be a reason for Antony’s reluctance to wait for inputs from other ministries. In the VVIP chopper deal, it discovered that his sense of urgency with regard to investigating corruption charges is not always shared by other wings. The first official communication from MoD to the Indian Embassy in Rome inquiring about allegations of corruption byFinmeccanica and its subsidiary AgustaWestland had gone out at the first sniff of sleaze; as early as February 2012 from the ministry’s director-general (acquisitions).

The communication to the Indian Embassy in Rome was followed by another letter in April, 2012. It was in May, 2012 that the Embassy replied saying it was very difficult to obtain formal details because of the independence of judiciary from the executive. The MoD wrote in July, 2012 and the defence secretary wrote to MEA’s secretary (west) in October, 2012. The exchanges continued with no concrete result.

Antony has since been accused of not acting promptly when the allegations of corruption first surfaced.

So, this time once the court documents were filed this week in Italy, MOD obtained them from the court’s website. And the IAF engaged a translator. Once this translation was available to the ministry, Antony ordered the cancellation. One senior official said there was no discussion even about the need for sending the show-cause notice for legal scrutiny.

Antony’s possessive stand on protecting his turf, especially when it comes to action against corruption, is intricately linked to his reputation in public life. And possible fear of undue influence being brought on him on issues related to corruption.

But administering India’s defence ministry is not an easy task, a fact Antony has learned in the most difficult way. In the six years that he has been in South Block, several controversies have shaken it up, and often many used it to question the senior Congress leader’s qualifications to administer the complex ministry.

Antony has been withstanding even the collective wisdom of his cabinet colleagues on many of the most controversial issues, despite criticisms about his decisions. This lonely pursuit of certain decisions was most noticeable when a recalcitrant former Army chief General V K Singh put up a fight over his age. In January 2012 when Gen Singh went to Supreme Court, Antony was flooded with recommendations from his cabinet colleagues and other politicians to sack the Army chief. However, he stood his ground, and let Gen Singh retire in normal course. Many thought, especially after intelligence inputs emerged about unauthorised troop movement towards Delhi when Gen Singh went to court, that Antony was more lenient than necessary.

This time, many who work closely with him, argue that Antony wouldn’t show any such leniency, nor would be open to counsel. For him, it is the way how he handles the VVIP chopper scam which could decide his political legacy.

Solo Antony hand behind cancellation of VVIP chopper deal | idrw.org

Saint Antony .........

 

[KRAIT]

@arp2041 @Abingdonboy Did you watch the Headlines Today ? They were selling junk helicopters to our nation. 1984, they sold us old helis.

Delivered in 1987, two crashed and they were grounded in 1989. India sold these old helicopters back in 2000s.

Helis sold to UK, were not given air-worthiness certificate because of bad conditions.

This is how they sell us bad product while keep the people happy by kick backs. So, this is a case of National Security because of selling crap helicopter which can crash anytime.

This has been presented by Public Prosecutor, news in confirmed.

 

[Abingdonboy]

@arp2041 @Abingdonboy Did you watch the Headlines Today ? They were selling junk helicopters to our nation. 1984, they sold us old helis.

Delivered in 1987, two crashed and they were grounded in 1989. India sold these old helicopters back in 2000s.

Helis sold to UK, were not given air-worthiness certificate because of bad conditions.

This is how they sell us bad product while keep the people happy by kick backs. So, this is a case of National Security because of selling crap helicopter which can crash anytime.

This has been presented by Public Prosecutor, news in confirmed.

Yes @KRAIT I knew about these helos but I don't see the relevance in this case as these AW-101s are brand new and made to order for the IAF.