New Delhi: Dassault, the maker of the French fighter aircraft Rafael, paid one million euros to a middleman in India soon after the 36-plane deal was signed between India and France. The French publication ‘MediaPart’ has alleged this by citing the investigation conducted by France’s anti-corruption agency.
The portal has said in its report that this middleman has also been accused of money-laundering in another defense deal in India.
Dassault has reportedly claimed that the money was used to pay for 50 replicas of the Rafale jet.
According to ‘MediaPart’, “the company said the money was used to pay for 50 different replicas of the Rafale jet, while no evidence was given to inspectors that such models were made …”
According to the report, these allegations were first exposed by the French anti-corruption agency Agenda François Anticorption, when they audited Dassault. But according to the report, AFA did not mention it to prosecutors.
According to the AFA report, “When they scrutinized the 2017 accounts, AFA’s inspectors were knocked out, when they saw a record 5,08,925 Euros in expenditure item, next to which was written ‘gifts to the client’ …
The Indian investigative company, Defsys Solutions, run by Sushen Gupta, provided an invoice to French investigators against whom the CBI and Enforcement Directorate (ED) are investigating in the AgustaWestland case involving the purchase of VVIP choppers.
Defsys Solutions is one of the ten subcontractors in India. Sushen Gupta has been arrested in the chopper deal, and later Sushen got bail.
