CBI team in Malaysia to seek Quattrocchi’s extradition

NEW DELHI, DEC 12: A high-level CBI team is in Malaysia to explore the possibility of bringing to India controversial Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi, a key accused in the Rs 1,437 crore Bofors gun deal pay-offs case.

The two-member team, which went to Kuala Lumpur three days ago, is holding discussions with Malaysian authorities over the possibility of securing the extradition of Quattrocchi, alleged to have received part of the Rs 65 crore kickback in the deal, CBI sources said on Sunday.

The team, including Special Director P C Sharma and the agency’s Legal Adviser S K Sharma, would apprise the authorities there about various legal aspects relating to the case, they said. Another team of officials deputed by the CBI in 1997 to Kuala Lumpur, soon after the agency acquired the first set of Swiss Bank documents from Berne, had failed to bring back Quattrocchi due to the absence of any extradition treaty with Malaysia.