French portal Mediapart has made a shocking revelation on Rafale manufacturer fighter aircraft Dassault Aviation paid 7.5 million euros to middleman Sushen Gupta’s Mauritius company Interstellar Technologies to secure the deals of 36 Rafale fighter jets to India.
As per the new report of French portal mediapart, corruption of ₹ 59,000 crore has been made to finalise the Rafale deal between 2007 and 2012.
The Attorney General of Mauritius sent a report to the CBI on October 11, 2018, for publishing fraudulent receipts allegedly raised by Gupta firms.
Middleman paid 7.5 million euros by Dassault: French report
The report states, "It involves offshore companies, dubious contracts and “false” invoices. Mediapart can reveal that detectives from the Central Bureau of Investigations (CBI), and colleagues from the Enforcement Directorate (ED) have had proof since October 2018 that French aviation firm Dassault paid at least 7.5 million euros (equivalent to just under 650 million rupees) in secret commissions to middleman Sushen Gupta. Yet it has decided not to pursue the affair and has not begun an investigation".
The sale of 36 jets was done by the NDA government as per the report but the review coincides with UPA’s term in office. The UPA regime had finalized the Dassault Aviation deal for 126 fighters but due to negotiations the deal was recast and renegotiated to 36 fighters in 2016 during the NDA govt. Later, the deal was cleared by the Supreme Court and the CAG concluded that it was a little under 3% cheaper than the terms discussed by UPA.
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Sources revealed that the investigative agencies and some officials claimed that interrogation is at standstill due to ongoing investigation against the AgustaWestland bribery case since Gupta is one of the prime accused in the alleged laundering of Rs 423 crore bribes received in the AgustaWestland VVIP chopper deal.