Saturday 9 March 2019

2013 Indian Helicopter Bribery Scandal - Agusta Westland Chopper Scam




The Indian Helicopter Bribery Scandal, which took place in India between 2010 and 2013, is a case multimillion-dollar corruption. It involved middlemen and Indian officials being paid to buy helicopters for a number of high-ranking politicians. The funds were transferred via UAE and UK bank accounts. It wasn't until 2013 that it came to light. The scandal has been referred to as “Choppergate”, and the Chopper scam.

The Scandal

In February of 2010, a contract was signed by the MoD for the purchase of 12 AgustaWestland AW101 helicopters. The helicopters were for the Communication Squadron of Indian Air Force. The fleet of helicopters was to be used for VVIP duties for India's President and important state officials.

In February 2013, Italian authorities arrested Guiseppe Orsi, who was Finmeccanica's CEO. Finmeccanica is also the parent company of AgustaWestland. The charges against Orsi related to bribery and corruption. This created controversy over the helicopter deal that was made in 2010 between India and AgustaWestland.



The Investigation

The day after the news about Orsi's arrest and the allegations made against him, A.K. Antony, the Indian Defence Minister, ordered an Indian National Parliamentary investigation into the contract. Several allegations of corruption and bribery were made against a number of senior officials and AgustaWestland, that involved a contract for a new helicopter fleet that was being bid on.


In the investigation, a number of military officials were accused of taking bribes from the helicopter manufacturer to ensure they won the bid for a $500 million dollar (₹36 billion) contract. The contract was for supplying 12 AW101 AgustaWestland helicopters to be used for performing VVIP duties for India's President and important state officials. Allegations were made by Italian prosecutors that Ahmed Patel, the political secretary to Sonia Gandhi, Congress President, received illicit payments from the deal.

The CBI's preliminary inquiry discovered that there was enough evidence to bring to trial 12 individuals and 4 companies involved with the scandal:

Air Chief Marshal S.P. Tyagi - former Indian Air Force Chief
Juli, Docsa and Sandeep Tyagi – the 3 brothers of S.P. Tyagi
Satish Bagrodia - brother of former Union minister Santosh Bagrodia
Pratap Aggarwal - Chairman and Managing Director of IDS Infotech
Abhishek Verma – billionaire Indian arms dealer and middleman in the conspiracy
Anca Neacsu – Verma's wife
Christian Michael James – an established arms dealer and middleman
Carlos Gerosa - middleman
Guido Haschke - middleman
Finmeccanica – based in Italy
AgustaWestland- based in the UK
IDS Infotech – based in Chandigarh-based
Aeromatrix – based in Chandigarh


SP Tyagi's Role

Originally, it was stated that the Indian Air Force opposed the purchase of the AW101 helicopters due to them being incapable of high-altitude flying. It was alleged that the Air Chief marshal tweaked the altitude requirements, making AugustaWestland a more favorable choice. This worked to help them win the deal for the chopper contract.



Effects on the UPA Government

The Italian investigation states that the Indian Prime Minister was referred to in a number of conversations that took place between 3 of the middlemen involved in the controversy; Christian Michel, Carlos Gerosa, and Guido Haschke. Gandhi stated at the time that their party had nothing to hide.




AK Antony stated at the time that any company found to be involved in taking a bribe would be blacklisted, and legal action would be taken against them. During the same time, a series of damaging corruption scandals had hit the ruling Congres party. This resulted in the opposition calling for the resignation of Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh.

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