Chopper bribe routed via Mauritius: Indian cops searching for “missing” INR 1.2 billion

The CBI and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) of New Delhi, India, probing the VVIP chopper scandal, are said to have picked up the trail of over INR 1.2 billion “missing money” paid to Swiss arms dealer Guido Haschke to swing the deal in favour of AgustaWestland. According to sources, Italy has responded to a Letter Rogatory, which reveals that Haschke had hired some accounts in Switzerland to park the slush fund. The money flowed, sources said, through IDS Tunisia and subsequently to Interstellar in Mauritius and from there, to IDS, Aeromatrix India and Banque Morval at Riva Caccia in Lugano, Switzerland and an account hired by Haschke. The sources said approximately INR 370 million were channelled into India through a legitimate route but the agencies have not been able to unearth the trail of around INR 1.2 billion, which they suspect Haschke had managed to park in Banque Morval or any other hired account in Switzerland.