Ottavio Quattrocchi
Encyclopedia
Ottavio Quattrocchi is an Italian businessman who was being sought until early 2009 in India for criminal charges for acting as a conduit for bribes in the Bofors scandal
.
Quattrocchi's role in this scandal, and his proximity to India
n prime minister Rajiv Gandhi
through his Italian wife Sonia Gandhi
(Antonia Maino), is thought to have contributed to the defeat of the Congress Party
in the 1989 elections. Ten years later (1999), the Central Bureau of Investigation
(CBI) named Quattrocchi in a chargesheet as the conduit for the Bofors
bribe. The case against him was strengthened in June 2003, when Interpol
revealed two bank accounts, 5A5151516M and 5A5151516L, held by Quattrocchi and his wife Maria with the BSI AG bank, London, containing Euros 3 million and $1 million, a "curiously large savings for a salaried executive". In January 2006, these frozen bank accounts were unexpectedly released by India's law ministry, apparently without the consent of the CBI which had asked for them to be frozen.
On 6 February 2007, Ottavio Quattrocchi was detained in Argentina on the basis of the Interpol warrant. The Indian investigating agency CBI came under attack for putting up a half-hearted effort towards
his extradition and India lost the case for his extradition in June 2007, the judge remarking that "India did not even present proper legal documents". Embarrassingly, India was asked to pay Ottavio's legal expenses.
He was present in India at the time of his father's Argentina arrest in February 2007, and there is speculation that he may have met Priyanka Vadra around that time.
, province of Catania
, Sicily
, arrived in India in the mid 1960s as the representative of Italian oil and gas firm Eni
and its engineering arm Snamprogetti. His family became close to the Gandhi family based on their connection with Rajiv Gandhi's Italian wife Sonia Gandhi
, now the president of the ruling Indian National Congress
party. The Special judge Prem Kumar observed in his order of November 14, 2002:
Their children grew up together, and based on this friendship,
Quattrocchi had become so influential at the office of the Prime Minister "that bureaucrats used to stand up when Quattrocchi visited them." Ashok Malik notes in The Pioneer
:
That his influence extended to ministers was noted by VP Singh, who initially pursued the Bofors scandal, and whose testimony is summarized in a court judgement:
He won about 60 projects for Snamprogetti
, including:
In the process, it also became known that for contracts with India, Quattrocchi was the man to approach.
When orders did not go through, as in the
Hazira-Bijapur-Jagdishpur (HBJ) pipeline (1985), where Spie Capag of France had "bid a few hundred crores lower." Vengeance was swift. Nawal Kishore Sharma
lost his job as petroleum minister and was reduced to Congress general secretary. PK Kaul found his term as cabinet secretary ending prematurely and was sent to Washington, DC, as ambassador. The petroleum secretary, AS Gill, never made it to contention for cabinet secretary. The chairman of the Gas Authority of India, HS Cheema, was removed.
guns for the Indian Army
. On evaluation, the French Sofma gun was found to be the best in terms of price and features. The Army needed a range of 30 km; Army chief Krishnaswamy Sundarji favoured the Sofma because in field trials showed its range as 29.2 km against 21.5 for Bofors.
Furthermore, as was revealed much later, Bofors was (illegally) permitted to alter its bid without re-tendering. Eventually, despite the objections of the army and others, the order went to Bofors.
The Bofors scandal erupted after a 1987 report on Swedish radio, claiming that Bofors had paid bribes to secure the
contract. A firm called AE Services was named - it was found to have a paid up capital of lira
100, and no employees
The reporter Chitra Subramaniam
of The Hindu
obtained the private diary of Bofors MD Martin Ardbo, which revealed comments such as "Q's involvement may be a problem because of closeness to R.".
The identity of "Q" became clearer when
Chitra identified the Swiss bank where the AE Services' money went to, and determined that it was operated by Ottavio Quattrocchi.And evidently R meant Rajiv Gandhi
These were subsequently reinforced by the documents obtained by CBI from Switzerland, but these were eventually ruled out in court because they were photocopies, and not originals.
Once the scandal broke, the ruling Congress Party
came under severe fire, eventually losing the elections in 1989.
In July 1993,
the Swiss courts had permitted naming the account operators, and
Quattrocchi had been officially named. At this point,
CBI attempted to question Quattrocchi, and permission was
sought to impound his passport.
However, just before Quattrocchi could be detained,
on the night of July 29–30, 1993, Quattrocchi left Delhi for Kuala Lumpur
. It was alleged that he had been let off as part of a deal
between Sonia Gandhi and the-then prime minister PV Narasimha Rao.
In March 1999, Quattrocchi gave an interview claiming
that never received any payment from Bofors, and that he did not have "any connection with A.E. Services". Around the same time, Sonia Gandhi
spoke up for him
in her first press conference
On October 22, 1999, with the Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP)-led NDA government in power, the Central Bureau of Investigation
(CBI) filed a chargesheet against Quattrocchi, naming AE Services as a front company run by Quattrocchi and his wife Maria.
Based on 500 documents released by Swiss banks after protracted legal delays, the CBI framed charges against Quattrocchi and his wife, Maria; Win Chadha and his wife, Kanta. Among the conspirators named in the case were Rajiv Gandhi, and some other party functionaries. Chitra Subramaniam showed that
Quattrocchi, through A.E. Services, had been paid 3% of the sale, about US $ 7 million, as commission.
Attempts to extradite Quattrocchi from Malaysia failed owing to lack of compelling evidence and in 2003 Quattrocchi returned to Italy. It has been reported
that Indian requests for extradition or serving the Interpol warrant were turned down by Italy, who have requested to see the evidence and prosecute Quattrocchi in Italian courts.
On February 5, 2004 the Delhi High Court
quashed the charges of bribery against Rajiv Gandhi and others, citing inadequate evidence that any of the commission was actually paid to them. Sonia Gandhi celebrated:
However, the case was not dead; two charges - cheating, and causing wrongful loss to the Government, continue in the courts.
Meanwhile Win Chadha also died.
On May 31, 2005, the High Court of Delhi dismissed the Bofors case allegations against the British business brothers, Shrichand, Gopichand and Prakash Hinduja, a main point was the technical issue
that the CBI had not certified the photocopies of the vital documents from
the Swedish authorities it had submitted to the court.
was found by the Interpol to have two accounts held by
Quattrocchi and his wife Maria, containing Euros 3 million and $1 million.
These accounts were then frozen upon the request of the CBI.
Several appeals by Quattrocchi to de-freeze these accounts were turned down by British courts, based on vigorous marshalling of evidence by the CBI.
However, on December 22, 2005, the Indian government position changed rather suddenly. The law minister Hansraj Bhardwaj
deputed the additional solicitor general of India, Mr. B. Dutta, to London to specifically request release of these accounts. However, it appears that the law ministry never consulted the investigating agency, CBI in this matter.
According to an e-mail from the British authorities (cited in India Today
),
On January 16, 2006, a Public Interest Litigation was filed in the Supreme Court, and the CBI was ordered to ensure that the money was not withdrawn until the reasons for the government decision were clarified. The CBI asserted in court that Ottavio Quattrocchi was still wanted in charges related to Bofors. It has been alleged by a writ petition in the Supreme Court that B.B. Dutta may have acted under orders from the law minister Hans Raj Bhardwaj and that the CBI was most likely not consulted.
In any event, by the time of the Supreme Court decision, the amount of more than US$4 million, had been withdrawn from these two accounts.
The issue caused parliamentary criticism of the government action, and also weakened the position of Sonia Gandhi
, coming as it did within a year of the coalition led by her coming to power in the 2004 Elections. The main case against Quattrocchi continues to trickle through the Indian court system.
There was a sixteen day delay between when the CBI was informed about Quattrocchi's arrest in Argentina (February 7) and when the information was made public (February 23, the day after Massimo's departure). This together with the failure by CBI to explain their reasons for the delay has led to speculations on a possible Massimo role.
The CBI director,
Vijai Shankar explained the delay saying that it took time to
translate the documents from Spanish, but this explanation appeared lame, and it turned out to be false since the intimation was sent by the Indian Embassy in English. This delay, similar to the delay in informing the public about the de-freezing of the accounts, remained unanswered, leading to considerable speculation.
On February 17, Massimo was allegedly seen at a party thrown by Subhrakant Panda, MD of Indian Metals and Ferro Alloys and brother of Rajya Sabha MP Baijayant Jay Panda of the Biju Janata Dal
, where Priyanka Vadra was also present. Any meeting between Priyanka and Massimo was vigorously denied by Congress General Secretary Digvijay Singh,
but when interviewer Karan Thapar
asked him how he knew, he simply repeated the denial. Subsequently however, it was reported that the agencies were investigating his presence at the party, at the instance of Rahul Gandhi
.
The presence of Massimo in this crucial period has led to charges by the opposition parties that Massimo, who grew up with Priyanka and Rahul Gandhi, may have influenced the highest levels of the Indian government resulting in the inept CBI legal process that lost the case in Argentina. However, the Congress spokesman blamed the loss in Argentina to earlier NDA government incompetence: "we lost to three courts in Malaysia".
integrity of the Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh
, has also been brought into question.
removed the red-corner notice issued against Ottavio Quattrocchi after a request from the Central Bureau of Investigation.
In sharp contrast to a nearly two-decade-long investigation by the CBI, an income tax tribunal bench has ruled that Rs. 41 crore was paid in bribes to Ottavio Quattrocchi, an Italian businessman once considered a friend of the Gandhi family, and Win Chadha, the Bofors agent in India.
Read more at: http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/quattrochi-chadha-got-bofors-kickbacks-it-tribunal-76783?cp
A major chapter in the 25-year-old Bofors saga was closed on Friday with a Tis Hazari court here discharging Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi from the payoffs case after allowing the CBI to withdraw prosecution against him.
Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Vinod Yadav, in his 73-page order, noted that the CBI, despite “spending through the nose for about 21 years, has not been able to put forward legally sustainable evidence with regard to conspiracy in the matter. Further, in the case of Mr. Quattrocchi, as against the alleged kickback of Rs.64 crore he received, the CBI had by 2005 already spent around Rs.250 crore on the investigation, which is sheer wastage of public money.”
Bofors scandal
The Bofors scandal was a major corruption scandal in India in the 1980s; the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and several others were accused of receiving kickbacks from Bofors AB for winning a bid to supply India's 155 mm field howitzer...
.
Quattrocchi's role in this scandal, and his proximity to India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n prime minister Rajiv Gandhi
Rajiv Gandhi
Rajiv Ratna Gandhi was the sixth Prime Minister of India . He took office after his mother's assassination on 31 October 1984; he himself was assassinated on 21 May 1991. He became the youngest Prime Minister of India when he took office at the age of 40.Rajiv Gandhi was the elder son of Indira...
through his Italian wife Sonia Gandhi
Sonia Gandhi
Sonia Gandhi is an Italian-born Indian politician and the President of the Indian National Congress, one of the major political parties of India. She is the widow of former Prime Minister of India, Rajiv Gandhi...
(Antonia Maino), is thought to have contributed to the defeat of the Congress Party
Indian National Congress
The Indian National Congress is one of the two major political parties in India, the other being the Bharatiya Janata Party. It is the largest and one of the oldest democratic political parties in the world. The party's modern liberal platform is largely considered center-left in the Indian...
in the 1989 elections. Ten years later (1999), the Central Bureau of Investigation
Central Bureau of Investigation
The Central Bureau of Investigation is a government agency of India that serves as a criminal investigation body, national security agency and intelligence agency. It was established on 1 April 1963 and evolved from the Special Police Establishment founded in 1941...
(CBI) named Quattrocchi in a chargesheet as the conduit for the Bofors
Bofors scandal
The Bofors scandal was a major corruption scandal in India in the 1980s; the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and several others were accused of receiving kickbacks from Bofors AB for winning a bid to supply India's 155 mm field howitzer...
bribe. The case against him was strengthened in June 2003, when Interpol
Interpol
Interpol, whose full name is the International Criminal Police Organization – INTERPOL, is an organization facilitating international police cooperation...
revealed two bank accounts, 5A5151516M and 5A5151516L, held by Quattrocchi and his wife Maria with the BSI AG bank, London, containing Euros 3 million and $1 million, a "curiously large savings for a salaried executive". In January 2006, these frozen bank accounts were unexpectedly released by India's law ministry, apparently without the consent of the CBI which had asked for them to be frozen.
On 6 February 2007, Ottavio Quattrocchi was detained in Argentina on the basis of the Interpol warrant. The Indian investigating agency CBI came under attack for putting up a half-hearted effort towards
his extradition and India lost the case for his extradition in June 2007, the judge remarking that "India did not even present proper legal documents". Embarrassingly, India was asked to pay Ottavio's legal expenses.
He was present in India at the time of his father's Argentina arrest in February 2007, and there is speculation that he may have met Priyanka Vadra around that time.
Quattrocchi influence with Rajiv and Sonia Gandhi
Quattrocchi, born in MascaliMascali
Mascali is a comune in the Province of Catania in the Italian region Sicily, located about 170 km east of Palermo and about 30 km northeast of Catania....
, province of Catania
Province of Catania
Catania is a province in the autonomous island region of Sicily in Italy. Its capital is the city of Catania.It has an area of 3,552 km², and a total population of 1,073,881 . There are 58 comunes in the province, see Comunes of the Province of Catania...
, Sicily
Sicily
Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...
, arrived in India in the mid 1960s as the representative of Italian oil and gas firm Eni
Eni
Eni S.p.A. is an Italian multinational oil and gas company, present in 70 countries, and currently Italy's largest industrial company with a market capitalization of 87.7 billion euros , as of July 24, 2008...
and its engineering arm Snamprogetti. His family became close to the Gandhi family based on their connection with Rajiv Gandhi's Italian wife Sonia Gandhi
Sonia Gandhi
Sonia Gandhi is an Italian-born Indian politician and the President of the Indian National Congress, one of the major political parties of India. She is the widow of former Prime Minister of India, Rajiv Gandhi...
, now the president of the ruling Indian National Congress
Indian National Congress
The Indian National Congress is one of the two major political parties in India, the other being the Bharatiya Janata Party. It is the largest and one of the oldest democratic political parties in the world. The party's modern liberal platform is largely considered center-left in the Indian...
party. The Special judge Prem Kumar observed in his order of November 14, 2002:
Their children grew up together, and based on this friendship,
Quattrocchi had become so influential at the office of the Prime Minister "that bureaucrats used to stand up when Quattrocchi visited them." Ashok Malik notes in The Pioneer
The Pioneer (daily)
The Pioneer is a medium-sized English language newspaper in India.It is published from multiple locations in India, including Delhi. It is the second oldest English language newspaper in India that is operational...
:
That his influence extended to ministers was noted by VP Singh, who initially pursued the Bofors scandal, and whose testimony is summarized in a court judgement:
He won about 60 projects for Snamprogetti
Eni
Eni S.p.A. is an Italian multinational oil and gas company, present in 70 countries, and currently Italy's largest industrial company with a market capitalization of 87.7 billion euros , as of July 24, 2008...
, including:
- 1981: the five AlibagAlibagAlibag or Alibaug or Alibagh is a coastal town and a municipal council in Raigad District in the Konkan region of Maharashtra, India. It is also the headquarters of the Raigad district. The town and its surrounding villages are the historic hinterland of Bene Israeli Jews...
(Thal Vaishet) plants from RCFRashtriya Chemicals & FertilizersRashtriya Chemicals & Fertilizers Ltd. is a PSU in India under the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers, Government of India based in Mumbai. RCF is one of the leading producers of fertilizers in India and is a Miniratna company, a status awarded by the Government of India.-History:RCF was...
, four KribhcoKRIBHCOKrishak Bharati Cooperative Limited is an Indian cooperative society, that manufactures fertilizer, mainly urea. It registered under the Multi-State Cooperative Societies Act in 1985, and was promoted by the Government of India, and some agricultural co-operative societies spread all over the...
plants in Hazira, as well as the ONGC gas pipeline in Hazira. - 1983: National Fertilisers LimitedNational Fertilisers LimitedNational Fertilizers Limited is a major Indian producer of inorganic and organic fertilizers and industrial chemicals. Established in 1974, it operates 5 major plants across India.-History:...
's (NFL's) plant in Una and two plants in GunaGuna' means 'string' or 'a single thread or strand of a cord or twine'. In more abstract uses, it may mean 'a subdivision, species, kind, quality', or an operational principle or tendency....
. - 1984: IFFCO's three plants in AonlaAonla, Uttar PradeshAonla is a city and a municipal board in Bareilly district in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India.-Geography:Aonla is located at . It has an average elevation of 237 metres .-Industry:IFFCO factory of Urea is located in Aonla...
. - 1987: Nagarjuna Fertilizers and Chemicals Limited's two plants in KakinadaKakinadaKakinada is a city and a municipal corporation in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is located east of the state capital, Hyderabad. It is also the headquarters of East Godavari district. It is nicknamed "Fertilizer City" , "Pensioner's Paradise" and "Second Madras"...
.
In the process, it also became known that for contracts with India, Quattrocchi was the man to approach.
When orders did not go through, as in the
Hazira-Bijapur-Jagdishpur (HBJ) pipeline (1985), where Spie Capag of France had "bid a few hundred crores lower." Vengeance was swift. Nawal Kishore Sharma
Nawal Kishore Sharma
Shri Nawal Kishore Sharma, born 5 July 1925 in Dausa, Rajasthan, is a former Governor of Gujarat state in India, a position he has held from July 2004 to July 2009.-Biography:His father's name was Pandit Mool Chand Sharma.He was married to the late Smt...
lost his job as petroleum minister and was reduced to Congress general secretary. PK Kaul found his term as cabinet secretary ending prematurely and was sent to Washington, DC, as ambassador. The petroleum secretary, AS Gill, never made it to contention for cabinet secretary. The chairman of the Gas Authority of India, HS Cheema, was removed.
The Bofors Scandal
In 1984, a tender was floated for HowitzerHowitzer
A howitzer is a type of artillery piece characterized by a relatively short barrel and the use of comparatively small propellant charges to propel projectiles at relatively high trajectories, with a steep angle of descent...
guns for the Indian Army
Indian Army
The Indian Army is the land based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. With about 1,100,000 soldiers in active service and about 1,150,000 reserve troops, the Indian Army is the world's largest standing volunteer army...
. On evaluation, the French Sofma gun was found to be the best in terms of price and features. The Army needed a range of 30 km; Army chief Krishnaswamy Sundarji favoured the Sofma because in field trials showed its range as 29.2 km against 21.5 for Bofors.
Furthermore, as was revealed much later, Bofors was (illegally) permitted to alter its bid without re-tendering. Eventually, despite the objections of the army and others, the order went to Bofors.
The Bofors scandal erupted after a 1987 report on Swedish radio, claiming that Bofors had paid bribes to secure the
contract. A firm called AE Services was named - it was found to have a paid up capital of lira
Lira
Lira is the name of the monetary unit of a number of countries, as well as the former currency of Italy, Malta, San Marino and the Vatican City and Israel. The term originates from the value of a Troy pound of high purity silver. The libra was the basis of the monetary system of the Roman Empire...
100, and no employees
The reporter Chitra Subramaniam
Chitra Subramaniam
Chitra Subramaniam is an Indian journalist famous for uncovering the Bofors scandal.-Personal life:She was born in Sindri, India. She was educated at Lady Sri Ram College with a Bachelors in English Literature and received her Masters in journalism from Stanford University, California, USA...
of The Hindu
The Hindu
The Hindu is an Indian English-language daily newspaper founded and continuously published in Chennai since 1878. According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, it has a circulation of 1.46 million copies as of December 2009. The enterprise employed over 1,600 workers and gross income reached $40...
obtained the private diary of Bofors MD Martin Ardbo, which revealed comments such as "Q's involvement may be a problem because of closeness to R.".
The identity of "Q" became clearer when
Chitra identified the Swiss bank where the AE Services' money went to, and determined that it was operated by Ottavio Quattrocchi.And evidently R meant Rajiv Gandhi
Rajiv Gandhi
Rajiv Ratna Gandhi was the sixth Prime Minister of India . He took office after his mother's assassination on 31 October 1984; he himself was assassinated on 21 May 1991. He became the youngest Prime Minister of India when he took office at the age of 40.Rajiv Gandhi was the elder son of Indira...
These were subsequently reinforced by the documents obtained by CBI from Switzerland, but these were eventually ruled out in court because they were photocopies, and not originals.
Once the scandal broke, the ruling Congress Party
Indian National Congress
The Indian National Congress is one of the two major political parties in India, the other being the Bharatiya Janata Party. It is the largest and one of the oldest democratic political parties in the world. The party's modern liberal platform is largely considered center-left in the Indian...
came under severe fire, eventually losing the elections in 1989.
In July 1993,
the Swiss courts had permitted naming the account operators, and
Quattrocchi had been officially named. At this point,
CBI attempted to question Quattrocchi, and permission was
sought to impound his passport.
However, just before Quattrocchi could be detained,
on the night of July 29–30, 1993, Quattrocchi left Delhi for Kuala Lumpur
Kuala Lumpur
Kuala Lumpur is the capital and the second largest city in Malaysia by population. The city proper, making up an area of , has a population of 1.4 million as of 2010. Greater Kuala Lumpur, also known as the Klang Valley, is an urban agglomeration of 7.2 million...
. It was alleged that he had been let off as part of a deal
between Sonia Gandhi and the-then prime minister PV Narasimha Rao.
In March 1999, Quattrocchi gave an interview claiming
that never received any payment from Bofors, and that he did not have "any connection with A.E. Services". Around the same time, Sonia Gandhi
Sonia Gandhi
Sonia Gandhi is an Italian-born Indian politician and the President of the Indian National Congress, one of the major political parties of India. She is the widow of former Prime Minister of India, Rajiv Gandhi...
spoke up for him
in her first press conference
- The CBI has found him suspect. But we have not seen till today the papers that he has done something.
On October 22, 1999, with the Bharatiya Janata Party
Bharatiya Janata Party
The Bharatiya Janata Party ,; translation: Indian People's Party) is one of the two major political parties in India, the other being the Indian National Congress. Established in 1980, it is India's second largest political party in terms of representation in the parliament...
(BJP)-led NDA government in power, the Central Bureau of Investigation
Central Bureau of Investigation
The Central Bureau of Investigation is a government agency of India that serves as a criminal investigation body, national security agency and intelligence agency. It was established on 1 April 1963 and evolved from the Special Police Establishment founded in 1941...
(CBI) filed a chargesheet against Quattrocchi, naming AE Services as a front company run by Quattrocchi and his wife Maria.
Based on 500 documents released by Swiss banks after protracted legal delays, the CBI framed charges against Quattrocchi and his wife, Maria; Win Chadha and his wife, Kanta. Among the conspirators named in the case were Rajiv Gandhi, and some other party functionaries. Chitra Subramaniam showed that
Quattrocchi, through A.E. Services, had been paid 3% of the sale, about US $ 7 million, as commission.
Attempts to extradite Quattrocchi from Malaysia failed owing to lack of compelling evidence and in 2003 Quattrocchi returned to Italy. It has been reported
that Indian requests for extradition or serving the Interpol warrant were turned down by Italy, who have requested to see the evidence and prosecute Quattrocchi in Italian courts.
On February 5, 2004 the Delhi High Court
High Courts of India
India's unitary judicial system is made up of the Supreme Court of India at the national level, for the entire country and the 21 High Courts at the State level. These courts have jurisdiction over a state, a union territory or a group of states and union territories...
quashed the charges of bribery against Rajiv Gandhi and others, citing inadequate evidence that any of the commission was actually paid to them. Sonia Gandhi celebrated:
However, the case was not dead; two charges - cheating, and causing wrongful loss to the Government, continue in the courts.
Meanwhile Win Chadha also died.
On May 31, 2005, the High Court of Delhi dismissed the Bofors case allegations against the British business brothers, Shrichand, Gopichand and Prakash Hinduja, a main point was the technical issue
that the CBI had not certified the photocopies of the vital documents from
the Swedish authorities it had submitted to the court.
De-freezing of accounts
In June 2003, a London branch of the Swiss bank BSI AGwas found by the Interpol to have two accounts held by
Quattrocchi and his wife Maria, containing Euros 3 million and $1 million.
These accounts were then frozen upon the request of the CBI.
Several appeals by Quattrocchi to de-freeze these accounts were turned down by British courts, based on vigorous marshalling of evidence by the CBI.
However, on December 22, 2005, the Indian government position changed rather suddenly. The law minister Hansraj Bhardwaj
Hansraj Bhardwaj
Hansraj Bhardwaj is an Indian politician, currently serving as the Governor of Karnataka. He is a member of the Indian National Congress. He holds the record of having the second longest tenure in Law Ministry since independence, after Ashoke Kumar Sen...
deputed the additional solicitor general of India, Mr. B. Dutta, to London to specifically request release of these accounts. However, it appears that the law ministry never consulted the investigating agency, CBI in this matter.
According to an e-mail from the British authorities (cited in India Today
India Today
India Today is an Indian weekly news magazine published by Living Media India Limited, in publication since 1975 based in Mumbai. India Today is also the name of its sister-publication in Hindi...
),
On January 16, 2006, a Public Interest Litigation was filed in the Supreme Court, and the CBI was ordered to ensure that the money was not withdrawn until the reasons for the government decision were clarified. The CBI asserted in court that Ottavio Quattrocchi was still wanted in charges related to Bofors. It has been alleged by a writ petition in the Supreme Court that B.B. Dutta may have acted under orders from the law minister Hans Raj Bhardwaj and that the CBI was most likely not consulted.
In any event, by the time of the Supreme Court decision, the amount of more than US$4 million, had been withdrawn from these two accounts.
The issue caused parliamentary criticism of the government action, and also weakened the position of Sonia Gandhi
Sonia Gandhi
Sonia Gandhi is an Italian-born Indian politician and the President of the Indian National Congress, one of the major political parties of India. She is the widow of former Prime Minister of India, Rajiv Gandhi...
, coming as it did within a year of the coalition led by her coming to power in the 2004 Elections. The main case against Quattrocchi continues to trickle through the Indian court system.
Arrest in Argentina
On 6 February 2007, Quattrocchi was detained in Argentina on the basis of the Interpol warrant. The events unfolded as follows:- Late January, 2007: Ottavio Quattrocchi, despite having a warrant from Interpol in his name, takes an AlitaliaAlitaliaAlitalia - Linee Aeree Italiane S.p.A. , in its later stages known as Alitalia - Linee Aeree Italiane S.p.A. in Extraordinary Administration, was the former Italian flag carrier...
flight from Italy to Buenos AiresBuenos AiresBuenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
, where he spends a few days, before proceeding to visit the Iguazu FallsIguazu FallsIguazu Falls, Iguassu Falls, or Iguaçu Falls are waterfalls of the Iguazu River located on the border of the Brazilian State of Paraná and the Argentine Province of Misiones. The falls divide the river into the upper and lower Iguazu. The Iguazu River originates near the city of Curitiba. It flows...
. This area is a prominent tourist attraction, but is also a drug and terror alert region. - February 6, 2007: At Iguazu, Quattrocchi goes over to nearby BrazilBrazilBrazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
but is detained at Iguazu airport on his return on the basis of an Indian arrest warrant for "Falsification of Documents", later shown to be illegal by the Argentine court that tried Quattrocchi. - February 8: Interpol informs CBI about Quattrocchi's detention
- February 13: The CBI responding to the Indian Supreme Court on a matter relating to money withdrawn by Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi, does not mention the fact of Quattrocchi's detention. CBI admits later that it had this information at the time. Agency director Vijai Shankar is facing contempt of court charges in the matter.
- February 23: CBI releases a statement about Quattrocchi's arrest in Argentina:
- It has been informed by the Argentine authorities through diplomatic channels that Italian national Ottavio Quattrocchi, an accused in CBI Case RC.1(A)/90-ACU.IV/SIG (Bofors Case) and subject of Interpol Red Corner Notice # A-44/2/1997, has been detained and taken in preventive custody on February 6, 2007. Quattrocchi was detained at Iguazu International Airport in Argentina province of Misiones while in transit to Buenos Aires.
- February 24: The opposition party Bharatiya Janata PartyBharatiya Janata PartyThe Bharatiya Janata Party ,; translation: Indian People's Party) is one of the two major political parties in India, the other being the Indian National Congress. Established in 1980, it is India's second largest political party in terms of representation in the parliament...
(BJP) claims that this late release of information was orchestrated by the Congress government to avoid embarrassment to Sonia Gandhi during the ongoing state elections in PunjabPunjab (India)Punjab ) is a state in the northwest of the Republic of India, forming part of the larger Punjab region. The state is bordered by the Indian states of Himachal Pradesh to the east, Haryana to the south and southeast and Rajasthan to the southwest as well as the Pakistani province of Punjab to the...
and Uttaranchal. - February 26: Quattrocchi released on bail. It appears that the CBI/India was not represented in the matter. On the other hand, the Italian government supported Quattrocchi, with the Consul General of Italy being himself present in court.
- March 2: The CBI sends a team to fight the extradition case coming up for which papers need to be filed by March 7. An English speaking lawyer is appointed by CBI.
- June 9: The request for the extradition of Ottavio Quattrocchi is rejected by the court of El Dorado, Argentina on three counts: 1) The 1997 arrest warrant which specified as a motivation, "falsification of documents" was deemed to be illegal and based on an unsubstantiated accusation, 2) The 1997 arrest warrant had in any case been "used" by the prior arrest of Quattrocchi in Malaysia, 3)Arrest warrant and court order issued after the arrest of Quattrocchi, on February 23, 2007 was deemed to be arbitrary. The detailed judgment commented that "the CBI's request was not backed by ample judicial documents". In a final blow to the CBI, the investigative agency was also to pay the legal fees of Quattrocchi.
- February 24: The opposition party Bharatiya Janata Party
Allegations re: Massimo Quattrocchi
At the time of the Argentine arrest, Massimo Quattrocchi was had purportedly been in India for seven months. He had arrived in New Delhi on July 21, 2006, on Lufthansa flight 760, and left by Lufthansa flight 761 on February 22.There was a sixteen day delay between when the CBI was informed about Quattrocchi's arrest in Argentina (February 7) and when the information was made public (February 23, the day after Massimo's departure). This together with the failure by CBI to explain their reasons for the delay has led to speculations on a possible Massimo role.
The CBI director,
Vijai Shankar explained the delay saying that it took time to
translate the documents from Spanish, but this explanation appeared lame, and it turned out to be false since the intimation was sent by the Indian Embassy in English. This delay, similar to the delay in informing the public about the de-freezing of the accounts, remained unanswered, leading to considerable speculation.
On February 17, Massimo was allegedly seen at a party thrown by Subhrakant Panda, MD of Indian Metals and Ferro Alloys and brother of Rajya Sabha MP Baijayant Jay Panda of the Biju Janata Dal
Biju Janata Dal
The Biju Janata Dal is a state political party of the Indian state of Orissa led by Naveen Patnaik, son of former state chief minister Biju Patnaik. It was founded on 27 December 1997.-History:...
, where Priyanka Vadra was also present. Any meeting between Priyanka and Massimo was vigorously denied by Congress General Secretary Digvijay Singh,
but when interviewer Karan Thapar
Karan Thapar
Karan Thapar is one of India's noted television commentators and interviewers. He is the youngest child of General P. N. Thapar and Mrs. Bimla Thapar.-Education:...
asked him how he knew, he simply repeated the denial. Subsequently however, it was reported that the agencies were investigating his presence at the party, at the instance of Rahul Gandhi
Rahul Gandhi
Rahul Gandhi is an Indian politician and member of the parliament of India, representing the Amethi constituency. His political party is the Indian National Congress.-Early life and career:...
.
The presence of Massimo in this crucial period has led to charges by the opposition parties that Massimo, who grew up with Priyanka and Rahul Gandhi, may have influenced the highest levels of the Indian government resulting in the inept CBI legal process that lost the case in Argentina. However, the Congress spokesman blamed the loss in Argentina to earlier NDA government incompetence: "we lost to three courts in Malaysia".
Damage to the Congress Party
The Bofors scandal is now two decades old, and Ottavio Quattocchi having been named as the main beneficiary in the payoff continues to hurt Sonia Gandhi. The position of the Law Minister Hansraj Bharadwaj has been compromised, and theintegrity of the Prime Minister
Prime minister
A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...
Manmohan Singh
Manmohan Singh
Manmohan Singh is the 13th and current Prime Minister of India. He is the only Prime Minister since Jawaharlal Nehru to return to power after completing a full five-year term. A Sikh, he is the first non-Hindu to occupy the office. Singh is also the 7th Prime Minister belonging to the Indian...
, has also been brought into question.
Interpol removes the red corner notice
In April 2009, The InterpolInterpol
Interpol, whose full name is the International Criminal Police Organization – INTERPOL, is an organization facilitating international police cooperation...
removed the red-corner notice issued against Ottavio Quattrocchi after a request from the Central Bureau of Investigation.
In sharp contrast to a nearly two-decade-long investigation by the CBI, an income tax tribunal bench has ruled that Rs. 41 crore was paid in bribes to Ottavio Quattrocchi, an Italian businessman once considered a friend of the Gandhi family, and Win Chadha, the Bofors agent in India.
Read more at: http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/quattrochi-chadha-got-bofors-kickbacks-it-tribunal-76783?cp
A major chapter in the 25-year-old Bofors saga was closed on Friday with a Tis Hazari court here discharging Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi from the payoffs case after allowing the CBI to withdraw prosecution against him.
Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Vinod Yadav, in his 73-page order, noted that the CBI, despite “spending through the nose for about 21 years, has not been able to put forward legally sustainable evidence with regard to conspiracy in the matter. Further, in the case of Mr. Quattrocchi, as against the alleged kickback of Rs.64 crore he received, the CBI had by 2005 already spent around Rs.250 crore on the investigation, which is sheer wastage of public money.”