New Delhi: A report by media portal Mediapart has claimed that Dassault Aviation allegedly paid at least 7.5 million euros to a middleman to secure the sale of Rafale fighter aircrafts to the Indian government.
The report, published Sunday, also alleged that Indian investigating agencies had access to the documentary evidence of the money trail linking the manufacturers of Rafale jet and alleged middleman Sushen Gupta since October 2018.
According to the report, the evidence of Gupta receiving secret money was unearthed during the investigation of another controversial defence deal — the VVIP AgustaWestland Chopper Deal.
“In the helicopter deal, middleman Sushen Gupta received secret commissions from AgustaWestland via a letterbox or shell company registered in Mauritius, Interstellar Technologies Ltd. The Mauritian authorities agreed to send India’s Central Bureau of Investigations and Enforcement Directorate numerous documents relating to this company, including contracts, invoices and bank statements. This was how Indian detectives discovered that Sushen Gupta had also acted as an intermediary for Dassault Aviation over the Rafale deal,” Mediapart reported.
Interstellar Technologies allegedly received at least 7.5 million euros from Dassault Aviation. The transaction between the Mauritian firm and the French aviation firm happened between 2007 and 2012 during the rule of the Congress-led UPA government.
“Most of the money was discreetly sent to Mauritius using a system of alleged false invoices,” read the Mediapart report.
“In order to receive Dassault’s payments, Sushen Gupta used a proven ploy that had been employed in the helicopter affair (VVIP Chopper Deal)” the report said.
Documents published by the French portal showed that some of those invoices even spelled the name of Dassault Aviation incorrectly.
Citing another communication from the office of Attorney-General of Mauritius, the report said that these documents were sent to the director of the Central Bureau of Investigation on October 11, 2018.
An earlier investigation by the French portal established Gupta’s links with Dassault since 2001. Following the recent expose by the French publication, a fresh judicial investigation was initiated in France, earlier this year.
“It is being carried out by investigating judges Virginie Tilmont and Pascal Gastineau,” the report stated.
The Congress has been alleging that the NDA government signed the contract with France at a much higher price than negotiated during the UPA rule under the Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) tender for 126 aircrafts. The final government-to-government deal signed between India and France in 2016 provided 36 multi-role fighter aircrafts for an estimated price of 7.8 billion Euros.
The Centre has time and again rejected the charges made by the Opposition, citing India-specific improvements, timely delivery and secret clauses in the Rafale jets deal. The Indian Air Force has already raised Rafale squadrons on both western and eastern fronts at Ambala and Hasimara respectively.