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Warrant issued against Ottavio Quattrochi, summons to four others

A Central Bureau of Investigation court today issued non-bailable arrest warrants against controversial Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi and summons to former defence secretary S K Bhatnagar, Win Chaddha and two others in the Rs 64-crore Bofors kickbacks case.

Taking cognisance of the CBI charge-sheet and the supporting documents in the case, Special Judge Ajit Bharihoke said: ''In my opinion there is sufficient prima facie material on record to proceed against the accused.''

The other accused are Martin Ardbo, former president of the Swedish arms manufacturer AB Bofors, and the company, AB Bofors.

Under the court orders Quattrocchi will have to be produced in the court on December 13, the next date of hearing, after execution of the arrest warrant, and the other four accused, under summons, will have to appear the same day.

While Bhatnagar is a resident of Delhi, Quattrocchi is in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur, Chaddha in Dubai, and Ardbo in Sweden.

The original supporting documents of the charge-sheet were brought to the court today by the CBI in two steel trunks under heavy security.

According to the CBI charge-sheet, filed in the court on October 22, ''Investigation has revealed that an amount of Sek 242.62 million was paid by AB Bofors to Quattrocchi and Win Chadha as commissions'' in violation of the policy of the Government of India not to allow middlemen or agents in the Rs 1,436 crore deal signed in 1986 with AB Bofors for the purchase of 400 pieces of the 155 mm Howitzer field guns for the Indian Army.

Rajiv Gandhi, who was the prime minister and also held the defence portfolio when the deal was struck, has been named as an accused in the case.

All the five accused, who face trial, as well as Gandhi, have been charged under section 120 (B) IPC read with 420 IPC and 5(2) read with 5(1)(D) of the Prevention of Corruption Act. Also, substantive offences punishable under section 5(2) read with 5(1)(D) of PCA were committed by Gandhi and Bhatnagar and under section 420 IPC by Ardbo and AB Bofors.

Issuing non-bailable warrants of arrest against Quattrocchi, the judge noted that he had failed to turn up for interrogation despite giving an undertaking to this effect in the Supreme Court.

The CBI had got warrants issued against Quattrocchi which could not be executed as he moved the Supreme Court seeking their quashing.

A representation was made on his behalf in the apex court that he would cooperate with the CBI which wanted to interrogate him.

The Supreme Court directed the CBI that in view of Quattrocchi's statement that he would appear before the special judge dealing with the case on March 15, 1999, and shall remain present in India for two weeks thereafter to enable the investigating authorities to interrogate him, he should not be arrested on his arrival in India nor during the period of investigation.

It was also ordered by the Supreme Court that after the investigation was over he shall be permitted to leave the country.

''Despite that undertaking and the order of the Supreme Court, accused Quattrocchi did not obey the orders which implied that he has avoided to appear in the court.''

The CBI is expected to file an additional charge-sheet after receipt of the final set of secret Swiss Bank documents relating to the payment of kickbacks. Also, former External Affairs Minister Madhavsinh Solanki is likely to be charge-sheeted separately. Solanki had delivered a letter to Swiss authorities allegedly asking them to go slow on the investigations into the bank documents.

According to the charge-sheet, investigations had revealed several acts of omission and commission by the accused which proved that they were party to a criminal conspiracy with some others during 1985-87.

The conspiracy was aimed at awarding the gun contract by abusing their official position for causing wrongful gain to private persons and corresponding loss to the country.

AB Bofors paid an amount equivalent to Sek 192,156,200 (27 million US dollars approximately) during the period April 1986-March 1987 in the name of M/S Svenska Inc, Panama, in connection with the gun deal. This was found to have been credited to the personal account of Win Chadha in Swiss Bank Corporation, Geneva.

Another amount of Sek 5,04,63,966 (7.3 million dollars) was paid by AB Bofors to M/S AE Services Limited, UK. About 97 per cent of this amount was transferred to the account of Colbar Investments Limited, Panama, controlled by Quattrocchi in the Union Bank of Switzerland, Geneva.

It has also been found that Chadha and Quattrocchi have been transferring the funds from one account to another and from one jurisdiction to another to avoid detection.

The CBI has submitted 213 documents running into 2,500 pages and statements of 83 witnesses, including former prime minister V P Singh, in support of the charge-sheet.

UNI

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