The CBI has named a former Air Force Chief in its preliminary enquiry into allegations of kickbacks in the
Rs 3,600 crore VVIP chopper deal .
An agency statement said , besides the then Chief of Air Staff, it has registered a preliminary enquiry against five private persons; Italy-based company & its CEO; UK-based Company & its CEO; three middlemen and two India-based private firms in the matter of procurement of 12AW 101 VVIP/VIP Helicopters from U.K based company. The statement added that in the procurement process of the helicopters, some middlemen have influenced the deal in favour of the U.K-based company. It is also alleged that the Italy-based company paid commission in terms of several millions of Euros to the middlemen.
A team of CBI officials returned from Italy with some documents from Finmeccanica and the public prosecutor, to start its probe in the alleged payoffs in the helicopter deal .
All the suspects named by the CBI in its PE have denied allegations of receiving or giving kickbacks in the deal. Further investigations are on .