<p>In what could turn out to be yet another defence scam, UK-based engine manufacturer Rolls-Royce reportedly paid bribes to London-based Indian arms agent Sudhir Choudhrie.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The kickbacks were to secure a deal for supplying Hawk Advanced Jet Trainer (AJT) to the Indian Air Force.<br /><br />Since his name cropped up in the Tehelka tapes almost 15 years ago, Choudhrie had been investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation and Enforcement Directorate in the past and is currently being probed by the British Serious Fraud Investigation Office.<br /><br />While the Defence Ministry did not offer any comment on the charges, officials pointed out that Choudhrie was on the CBI’s Undesirable Contact Men list that warns civil servants and ministers to take extra care when dealing with such persons while negotiating commercial deals for the government.<br /><br />An investigation carried out by the BBC and The Guardian newspaper suggested that companies run by Choudhrie and his son received money from Rolls-Royce as well as from Russian firms, presumably to corner mega contracts in the lucrative Indian arms market.<br /><br />Rolls-Royce, for example, has made a payment of around 10 million pounds to Choudhrie, to bag a 400 million pounds contract as part of a larger deal to sell Hawk AJT to the Indian Air Force (IAF). <br /><br />Firm denies charges<br /><br />Manufactured by the BAE Systems, the Hawk trainers are powered by the Rolls-Royce engines. However, the company denied the charges.<br /><br />In March 2004, the defence ministry signed a contract with BAE Systems and Rolls-Royce for procurement of 24 Hawk AJTs and with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited for the licence manufacture of another 42 AJTs under transfer of technology.<br /><br />In July 2010, a second contract was inked with HAL for procurement of additional 57 Hawk AJTs from HAL. <br /><br />Of these, 40 are for the IAF and 17 for the Indian Navy. All the aircraft are powered by Rolls-Royce engines.<br /><br />According to the investigation, Choudhrie’s son Bhanu Choudhrie accompanied an arms executive named Peter Ginger on a trip to Switzerland in 2007. During the trip, Ginger made a payment amounting to “hundreds of thousands of pounds” into a secret bank account in cash. <br /><br />The account was opened in the name of “Portsmouth” and bank documents show a balance of more than a million Swiss francs, the report said. Ginger was the BAE Systems president (India) and played a key role to negotiate the sale of Hawk aircraft to the Indian government. The companies owned by the father-son duo also received payments from Russian companies to sell MiG fighter jets to the IAF.<br /></p>
<p>In what could turn out to be yet another defence scam, UK-based engine manufacturer Rolls-Royce reportedly paid bribes to London-based Indian arms agent Sudhir Choudhrie.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The kickbacks were to secure a deal for supplying Hawk Advanced Jet Trainer (AJT) to the Indian Air Force.<br /><br />Since his name cropped up in the Tehelka tapes almost 15 years ago, Choudhrie had been investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation and Enforcement Directorate in the past and is currently being probed by the British Serious Fraud Investigation Office.<br /><br />While the Defence Ministry did not offer any comment on the charges, officials pointed out that Choudhrie was on the CBI’s Undesirable Contact Men list that warns civil servants and ministers to take extra care when dealing with such persons while negotiating commercial deals for the government.<br /><br />An investigation carried out by the BBC and The Guardian newspaper suggested that companies run by Choudhrie and his son received money from Rolls-Royce as well as from Russian firms, presumably to corner mega contracts in the lucrative Indian arms market.<br /><br />Rolls-Royce, for example, has made a payment of around 10 million pounds to Choudhrie, to bag a 400 million pounds contract as part of a larger deal to sell Hawk AJT to the Indian Air Force (IAF). <br /><br />Firm denies charges<br /><br />Manufactured by the BAE Systems, the Hawk trainers are powered by the Rolls-Royce engines. However, the company denied the charges.<br /><br />In March 2004, the defence ministry signed a contract with BAE Systems and Rolls-Royce for procurement of 24 Hawk AJTs and with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited for the licence manufacture of another 42 AJTs under transfer of technology.<br /><br />In July 2010, a second contract was inked with HAL for procurement of additional 57 Hawk AJTs from HAL. <br /><br />Of these, 40 are for the IAF and 17 for the Indian Navy. All the aircraft are powered by Rolls-Royce engines.<br /><br />According to the investigation, Choudhrie’s son Bhanu Choudhrie accompanied an arms executive named Peter Ginger on a trip to Switzerland in 2007. During the trip, Ginger made a payment amounting to “hundreds of thousands of pounds” into a secret bank account in cash. <br /><br />The account was opened in the name of “Portsmouth” and bank documents show a balance of more than a million Swiss francs, the report said. Ginger was the BAE Systems president (India) and played a key role to negotiate the sale of Hawk aircraft to the Indian government. The companies owned by the father-son duo also received payments from Russian companies to sell MiG fighter jets to the IAF.<br /></p>
