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In early 2013, an Indian parliamentary investigation began into allegations of bribery and corruption involving several senior officials and helicopter manufacturer AgustaWestland surrounding the purchase of a new fleet of helicopters. The scandal has been referred to as the Chopper scam, or Choppergate by elements of the media and popular press. Several Indian politicians and military officials have been accused of accepting bribes from AgustaWestland in order to win the Indian contract for the supply of 12 AgustaWestland AW101 helicopters; these helicopters are intended to perform VVIP duties for the President of India and other important state officials. Ahmed Patel political secretary to Congress President Sonia Gandhi is alleged by Italian prosecutors to have received kickbacks from the deal.〔http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/does-ap-mean-ahmed-patel-asks-prosecutor-in-italy-court-middleman-says-dont-know/〕 A note dating back to 15 March 2008 presented in the Italian court also indicates that Congress Party President Sonia Gandhi is the driving force behind the VIP chopper purchase. And it further asks middleman Peter Hulett to target key advisors to Sonia Gandhi and lists the names of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Ahmed Patel, Pranab Mukherjee, M. Veerappa Moily, Oscar Fernandez, M. K. Narayanan, Vinay Singh. The note also contains the bribes to be paid out divided as, "AF" €6 Million, "BUR" €8.4 Million, "Pol" €6 Million and "AP" €3 Million.〔http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/agustawestland-vvip-chopper-scam-note-sonia-gandhi-manmohan-singh/1/341261.html〕〔http://ibnlive.in.com/news/agustawestland-scam-has-upa-subverted-india-into-a-kleptocracy-asks-jaitley/449527-37-64.html〕〔http://www.firstpost.com/india/target-sonia-her-key-advisers-middleman-told-agustawestland-1370205.html〕 On 25 March 2013, India's Defence Minister A.K. Antony confirmed corruption allegations by stating : "Yes, corruption has taken place in the helicopter deal and bribes have been taken. The CBI is pursuing the case very vigorously". As of June 2014, Indian government has recovered a total amount of 2068 crore〔 and has recovered the entire amount of around 1620 (45% of total contract value 3600 crore) it had paid to AgustaWestland.〔 ==Overview== India signed a contract to purchase 12 AgustaWestland AW101 helicopters in February 2010 for the Communication Squadron of Indian Air Force, to carry the president, PM and other VVIPs. Controversy over the contract came to light on 12 February 2013, with the arrest of Giuseppe Orsi, the CEO of Finmeccanica, AgustaWestland's parent company by Italian authorities; the following day Indian Defence Minister A.K. Antony ordered a probe into the contract. A chandigarh based company, IDS infotech was used for routing kickbacks to India.〔http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Choppergate-ED-arrests-businessman-Gautam-Khaitan/articleshow/43266860.cms〕 The role of Satish Bargodia (brother of ex-Union Minister Santosh Bargodia) who is also the director of the company is being investigated. In 2005 just few years before the scam Pratap Agarwal brought son of Satish Bargodia as it's director. It is alleged that using the political connection of Satish, IDS a rather unknown firm managed to bag such a huge deal 〔http://www.hindustantimes.com/newdelhi/ex-minister-s-kin-on-board-of-choppergate-it-company/article1-1013101.aspx〕 This is not the first time that business ventures of Santosh Bagrodia’s brothers have landed him in controversy. In the coal block allocation scam, allegations were leveled against Santosh Bagrodia over a Rs. 600-crore mining contract awarded by a unit of state-owned Coal India Limited during his tenure in the coal ministry to Cuprum Bagrodia, a company of another of his brothers, Vinod. Santosh was coal minister between April 2008 and May 2009.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「2013 Indian helicopter bribery scandal」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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