Vanishing Clues - Out Look

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It was a familiar case of too little, too late. Last fortnight,
when a two-member CBI team, comprising a superintendent of police
and a legal advisor, reached the Channel Islands to probe the
transfer of 50 million Swedish kroner (approximately Rs 26 crore)
>from Ottavio Quattrocchi's AE Services account in Switzerland to
the picturesque isles off the British coast, they found the bird
had flown the coop. In other words investigators had reached the
site of the crime, as has often happened in the Bofors saga,
almost a decade after the incident took place.

What the two members found confirmed what bank statements that
came from Switzerland had indicated about a year ago. Fifty
million Swedish kroner of the Bofors payoffs that went to AE
Services, allegedly owned by close Gandhi family friend Ottavio
Quattrocchi, had been deposited at a Credit Suisse branch in
Zurich-from where it was moved to another Credit Suisse branch in
Geneva on way to the Channel Islands. By the time the Indian
investigators got there, the accounts had been moved to several
'unknown' destinations, the UK and Austria reportedly among them.

With letters rogatory, or letters of request, already sent to
Panama, Liechenstein and Luxembourg, they are now in the process
of identifying the names of recipients and bank accounts, the
movement of monies through several continents and other related
material.

But clearly, the rub lies elsewhere. During his tenure as CBI
director, Joginder Singh drew up a provisional chargesheet that
named amongst others Rajiv Gandhi as a ,conspirator'. Others in
that list include Quattrocchi, former Rajiv aides S.K. Bhatnagar
and Gopi Arora, former Congress minister Madhavsinh Solanki and
onetime Bofors representative Win Chadha and his wife.

The point is, can the government move on that chargesheet? Says a
key official: "The BJP has made Bofors a big issue all these
years. Even lately, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee has
assured that all papers will be brought out in the open. Now is
their chance to do it. If the government sanctions the
prosecution, the case will get a fresh lease of life.

But that's easier said than done. The first set of documents that
arrived from Switzerland last year identified some dramatis
personae. The second set of papers, according to sources, is
still being contested in a Swiss magistrate's court and the
appellants in this case are reportedly the powerful Hinduja
brothers, whose political clout far outstrips anything that
political ideology can offer. 'Their proximity to the BJP is
well known,' notes an official.

The problem is compounded by the fact that any forward movement
in the case could well be a nasty mirage. Given the frailties of
the legal system and the extent of the cover up, filing a case
against a political opponent or even being seen to be doing so
can be a recipe for disaster. Witness Jayalalitha's
resurrection.

Experts are, however, unanimous on one thing. The next logical
step would be to initiate proceedings to have Quattrocchi
extradited from Malaysia. In March 1997, the CBI had already
issued arrest warrants for the former Snamprogetti representative
in India. But in a country where Quattrocchi enjoys enormous
clout, including housing in the diplomatic compound right next to
the Italian ambassador's residence, getting him out would require
a whole new government to government equation.

The Indian authorities also have to contend with the Swiss legal
system. Well placed sources say the appellants blocking the
movement of bank documents in a magistrate's court are unlikely
to give up that easily. Even if the magistrate okays the transfer
of papers to India, it is likely to be contested all over again
in a cantonal court in Geneva.

That is not all. Sources say the attitude of the Indian
government has been recalcitrant to say the least. Unlike in the
past, Indian authorities have offered little resistance to the
appellants blocking the Bofors papers (see interview). Given all
that is at stake for the appellants, they are bound to use the
slightest political lapse to their advantage.

All of which points to a long drawn out investigation. For, in a
political drama spanning more than a decade, Bofors is an issue
everyone seems to be impatient with, but can do little to get on
with.

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