Agency officials also told dna that Italy is the only country which has sent a complete compliance report to its investigators even though Letter Rogatory's (LR's) were sent to eight countries which are suspected to house banks where the money trail of the infamous chopper deal leads into.
The Central Bureau of Investigation on Wednesday said that its officials investigating AgustaWestland will now focus on the money trail of over 50 million euros. The decision comes after a two-member team of CBI visited Milan and discussed the details of the case with Italy's legal and police officers who have been assigned to probe the case in Italy in July.
Agency officials also told dna that Italy is the only country which has sent a complete compliance report to its investigators even though Letter Rogatory's (LR's) were sent to eight countries which are suspected to house banks where the money trail of the infamous chopper deal leads into. The LR is a formal request from a court to a foreign court for judicial assistance and taking evidence.
The agency had sent LR's in this regard have also been sent to eight different countries where in CBI suspects the money trail of the infamous chopper deal leads into. The countries where LR's have been sent are Italy, Switzerland, United Kingdom, UAE, Mauritius, Singapore, British Virgin Islands and Tunisia.
On Wednesday, sources in the probe agency said that while Mauritius, UAE and Singapore are yet to respond to the LR's sent by the probe agency, investigators are also awaiting complete compliance report of letters rogatory from Tunisia, British Virgin Islands, UK and Switzerland. Italy, for now, is the only country to have sent the complete report to CBI.
"CBI is conducting necessary follow-up action with British Virgin Islands and the three countries, as well as Italy," said a CBI official.
Agency sources said the 50 million euro money trail is now being pursued after its investigators have found substantial evidence from Italy in the form of a compliance report of the Letters Rogatory (LR) it had sent earlier.
In April this year, the Milan Court of Appeals — equivalent to an Indian high court — had ruled that the Rs3,600 crore Agusta-Westland contract involved payoffs to Indian officials including former Indian Air Force chief S P Tyagi.AFM Tyagi is accused of influencing IAF's decision to tailor chopper specification to suit helicopters put for bidding by AgustaWestland. Along with Tyagi, his three cousins -- Sanjeev, Rajiv and Sandeep -- have been accused of lobbying for AgustaWestland.
CBI had named various persons in its FIR, including European alleged middlemen Gerosa, Christian Michel James and Haschke who are among the 13 individuals named as accused. The service ceiling (height of flying capacity) was brought down from 6,000 metres to 4500, even after reluctance by the ministry of defence.Six companies including Italy-based Finmeccanica, Agusta Westland, Mohali-based IDS Infotech, Aeromatrix, IDS Tunisia and IDS Mauritius have also been named by CBI in its FIR.
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