Author:
Publication: India Today
Date: January 3, 2011
URL: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/site/Story/125410/LATEST%20HEADLINES/quattrocchi-chadha-bofors-gun-deal-case.html
A tax appeal by his son has boomeranged on
Win Chadha, who was once accused as one of the biggest beneficiaries of the
Bofors kickbacks, and Ottavio Quattrocchi, the Italian businessman who too
was named in the scandal.
On December 31, the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal
(ITAT) shot down the appeal of Chadha's son Hersh, saying "commission
was paid to Ottavio Quattrocchi and Win Chadha illegally" in the Bofors
deal.
According to ITAT, these "payments were
made illegally as the government of India policy did not allow middlemen in
defence deals".
The income tax investigations have also revealed
that Chadha received income in the Bofors deal that was more than what was
disclosed in his return of income.
Despite the government's directive to not
appoint or pay any agent, Bofors entered into a fresh agreement with AE Services
Limited of the UK in November 1985 at the behest of Quattrocchi, the ITAT
said.
The I-T probe also revealed that Bofors did
not disclose its deal with AE Services in its communication with the ministry
of defence. Investigations have revealed that Quattrocchi was instrumental
in bringing about the agreement between AE Services and Bofors.
It has emerged that on September 3, 1986,
Bofors remitted a sum of $7.34 million to a Swiss bank account of AE Services.
From this account, an amount of $7.12 million was transferred to an account
in the name of M/s Colbar Investment Limited, Panama. That account was also
with a Swiss bank in Geneva.
The Bofors gun scam had emerged during the
tenure of prime minister Rajiv Gandhi and caused his defeat in the 1989 general
elections.
