Mediapart has alleged that false invoices were used to enable Dassault Aviation to pay at least 7.5 million euros (which is approximately Rs 65 crore) in secret commissions to middlemen. Sushen Gupta. Sushen was earlier arrested for alleged bribery in the AgustaWestland deal.
According to media reports, these payments were made during the Congress-led UPA government between 2007 and 2012.
UPA-era Rafale deal It was scrapped by the BJP-led NDA government after coming to power in 2014. The NDA had on September 23, 2016 inked an inter-governmental deal with France to buy 36 Rafale jets from Dassault Aviation, worth Rs 59,000 crore.
Quoting Mediapart’s report, BJP leader Amit Malviya said: “The UPA was taking bribes but couldn’t close the deal? The NDA later scrapped it and signed a contract with the French government, which harassed Rahul Gandhi. did not do.”
Dassault paid €14.6 million for the sale of Rafale to middleman Sushen Gupta in the period 2004-2013.
— Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) 1636358008000
The media portal further alleged that the CBI and the ED had evidence of bribes being paid since October 2018, but did not pursue the matter further.
A report on the Medipart website said: “This includes offshore companies, dubious contracts and “false” invoices. Mediapart reveals spies of associates of India’s federal police force, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED). ), which fights money laundering, has evidence from October 2018 that French aviation firm Dassault paid middleman Sushen Gupta at least 7.5 million euros (equivalent to just Rs 650 million) in secret commission This was in reference to the French firm’s long and ultimately successful attempt to secure a 7.8 billion euro-deal in 2016 to sell its 36 Rafale fighter jets to India.”
Mediapart published a report in April that revealed how an influential Indian trade intermediary was secretly paid millions of euros by Rafale maker Dassault Aviation and French defense electronics firm Thales. The report claimed that they were successful in removing anti-corruption clauses from the fighter contract, which was later signed by then French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian.
Rafale maker Dassault Aviation and India’s defense ministry have previously denied allegations of any corruption in the contract.
In 2019, the Supreme Court also dismissed petitions seeking a probe into the deal, saying there was no basis for it.
In a statement published in April, responding to Mediapart’s report on the investigation, Dassault Aviation said the group, “acts in strict compliance with the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention and national laws”.
(with inputs from agencies)
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