Friday, March 29, 2024

UPA-era arms dealer sues French company for his Rs 92cr commission unpaid

Fugitive arms dealer and Rahul Gandhi’s close-aide Sanjay Bhandari has sued a French arms company in a French court over €11m (Rs 92 crore) that he claimed was never paid to him in relation to a defence deal inked in India in 2011, during the UPA regime.

In a report, British newspaper The Telegraph said: “Mr Bhandari alleges that from 2008 he helped Thales sell the upgrade of the Mirage jets by facilitating a meeting… He claims that he was due a consultancy fee of 20 million euros but was only paid 9 million euros.”

The French firm, which is also part of the 2016 deal India signed for the delivery of 36 Rafale jets, is “facing allegations that it used a secret and illicit system of paying middlemen to secure lucrative international contracts”, said a report by the UK-based newspaper, The Telegraph.

However, Thales has denied claims made by Bhandari. The French arms company also claimed that it had never signed a contract with the fugitive arms dealer or his firms.

“Thales complies with the law and applies a zero-tolerance policy on corruption and influence peddling. The group’s integrity programme is regularly evaluated and amended to reflect changes in applicable legislation and best practises,” it added.

In the report, while Bhandari had described himself in the lawsuit as a “well-known commercial intermediary involved in arms and defence in India,” he is sought by Indian authorities for alleged money laundering and tax evasion in connection with the Samsung-ONGC deal during the UPA era. 

The cases have been filed against him by the Enforcement Directorate and the Central Bureau of Investigation.

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