CBI gets Bofors papers from Channel Islands

Save a minuscule 30, the entire sum moved from Guernsey on June 1, 1990 within 10 days to four coded accounts in Vienna and Geneva, which brings the eight-year-long Bofors investigations back to full circle. The CBI is now armed with details of these four accounts, three of which are said to be located in Geneva and one in Vienna. The CBI is expected to issue fresh Letter Rogatories LRs for the Governments of Austria and Switzerland. The fresh leads in the Bofors case come at a time when LRs for tracing the pay-offs to Panama, Luxembourg and the Bahamas have been issued in November and December 1997 and the CBI has to commence investigations there.

The CBI8217;s investigations in Guernsey have had the desired effect, at least on Ottavio Quattrocchi.

Earlier this week, the Snamprogetti agent filed an 8220;urgent8221; writ petition in the Delhi High Court asking for the Non-Bailable Warrant NBW issued against him in February 1997 as well as Interpol8217;s red alert to be revoked.

While CBI Director D R Karthikeyan refrained from commenting on the recent developments in the Bofors case, it is understood the agency will be enlisting top lawyers to argue their case against Quattrocchi in the Delhi High Court.

Interestingly, Quattrocchi8217;s nine-page petition also mentions the transfer of the 9.2 million to Guernsey. Quoting from the CBI8217;s application for issuing the NBW, Quattrocchi has said that the transfer of the money to Inter Investment Development Company on May 21, 1990 was much after the registration of the First Information Report FIR, on January 22 1990. 8220;This clearly states that on the date of the FIR, the alleged amount remained in a foreign country and in the hands of foreigners,8221; the petition states. It also says that the 1990 FIR had named 14 persons as accused in the Bofors case and his name did not figure in the list. He says the Bofors FIR described the accused persons as 8220;certain public servants of the Government of India.8221;

Quattrocchi has said that despite the NBW being issued against him one year ago, they had returned 8220;unexecuted8221; from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where he resides, for want of sufficient evidence. However since the Interpol had issued a red-alert notice against him, he was encountering great difficulty in travelling out of Malaysia.

Several countries had denied him visa already and he was not being able to move about freely for his business.