Tags:
Journalism of Courage
An investigation by The Indian Express has revealed that Foreign Minister Natwar Singh’s son, Jagat Singh, visited Amman in Jordan twice in 2001. On both occasions, his visit came within weeks of his friend Andaleeb “Andy” Sehgal depositing what the Paul Volcker report on the oil-for-food scandal calls illegal “surcharge payments” in the Jordan National Bank. On one occasion, Jagat flew from Delhi to Amman just a day after Sehgal flew to neighbouring Dubai.
Sehgal and his firm Hamdan Export deposited a total of $748,540 (approx Rs 3.22 crore) in the Jordan bank that, the Volcker report says, reached the Saddam Hussein regime.
These payments were made on behalf of Masefield, the Swiss firm that lifted 1.9 million barrels of Iraqi oil of the 4 million barrels to which rights were obtained by Natwar Singh as per the Volcker report.
Natwar Singh said today that he would make a statement in Parliament on his being indicted by the Volcker report in the UN oil-for-food scandal. The latest revelation about his son’s Jordan trips means Singh will have a lot of explaining to do.
On Saturday, Sehgal had told The Indian Express that he had never travelled with Jagat Singh but consider their travel records and the schedule of “illegal surcharge payments” allegedly made by Sehgal on behalf of Masefield:
• Jagat Singh flew Royal Jordanian Airlines to Amman in January 2001.
• In February 2001, Sehgal flew there as well.
• According to Volcker Report’s Table 5, Sehgal deposited $60,000 in Jordan National Bank on March 13, 2001.
• On July 5, Jagat Singh flew to Amman again.
• Just a day earlier, on July 4, Sehgal flew Emirates to Dubai.
• By that time, his Hamdan had already deposited $438,518 into the same bank on May 27, 2001 and $59,808 on June 11.
• Last payment by Hamdan: $190,214 on December 19, 2001 in Amman.
Incidentally, Masefield did not respond to the Volcker Committee’s notice even when it was told that it would be named in the final report, along with “non-contractual beneficiaries” including Natwar Singh and the Congress party.
A Masefield official in London, when contacted by The Indian Express today, said that “it was company policy not to speak to the media.”
Neither Natwar Singh nor Jagat Singh respond to several calls and messages. However, in an interview to NDTV 24 X 7 tonight, Jagat Singh claimed he had no knowledge of Sehgal’s involvement. He made no mention of his Jordan trips and said he had gone to Iraq with his father as part of a Congress delegation and then for a function of the youth wing of Saddam’s Baathist party.
