Embraer deal case: CBI files charge sheet naming arms dealer Arvind Khanna, others

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, June 5

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has filed a charge sheet against arms dealer Arvind Khanna, advocate Gautam Khaitan and businessman Anup Gupta in the Embraer deal corruption case in which alleged kickbacks of US$ 5.76 million were paid to swing a three-aircraft deal with the DRDO in favour of the Brazilian firm, officials said today.

The officials said in the charge sheet, which was filed recently in a special court here, the CBI has invoked 120-B of the IPC, which pertains to criminal conspiracy, and provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act against Khanna, Khaitan, and Gupta.

It is to be noted here that the CBI has dropped proceedings against NRI businessman Vipin Khanna, who was named in the FIR, after his death.

The deal for the three aircraft, which were to be used by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) for installing air-borne radar systems, was inked with Brazilian firm Embraer on July 3, 2008.

The CBI in the charge sheet alleged that the kickbacks worth US$ 5.76 million were allegedly routed from subsidiaries of Embraer to Vipin Khanna through Singapore-based Interdev to be used for influencing officials in the DRDO.

In its FIR, the CBI had also booked Embraer and Interdev Pte Ltd in connection with the alleged corruption in the deal.

The CBI had instituted a preliminary enquiry in September 2016 after a report in a Brazilian newspaper alleged that Embraer had roped in middlemen to clinch deals in Saudi Arabia and India. According to the defence procurement rules of India, middlemen are strictly barred in such deals.

The CBI has said that due to alleged mediation by Vipin Khanna, DRDO officials moved a proposal for the purchase of aircraft from Embraer on a single-vendor basis. “It was also alleged that in lieu of facilitating the agreement/deal between Brazil-based firm and DRDO (India), the firm paid an amount of US$ 5.76 million (approx) to the said middleman (Khanna) through Singapore-based company during the year 2009,” the CBI spokesperson had said at the time of registering a regular case (FIR).

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