Westland Helicopters

Chief Executives can be found guilty of corruption after all!

"This sentence is inexplicable". They would say that wouldn't they.

Geoff Hoon keeping quiet at the moment I imagine.

Old report updated today:
 
Wanted by Interpol: ‘Mr Fixit’ for Westland’s €560m Indian deal
 
15^th December 2015
 
Interpol has issued a “red notice” for the arrest of a British businessman implicated in a bribery scandal over a UK defence contract in India.
 
India’s Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) wants Christian Michel to be seized and extradited for prosecution over allegations of running a slush fund of €30 million linked to a €560 million deal that was secured by AgustaWestland, the Anglo-Italian helicopter manufacturer.
 
According to Interpol’s red notice, the Indian authorities want Michel on charges of “criminal conspiracy, cheating, illegal gratification and abuse of official position”.
 
The notice gives his full name as Christian James Michel, his age as 54, and says that he was born in Harrogate in the UK. It also includes the first known photograph to be published of him (picture shown to the right).
 
Michel is alleged to have acted as a middleman for the supply by AgustaWestland of 12 AW101 helicopters to the Indian Air Force, eight of which were for transporting VIPs. India cancelled the contract after the delivery by AgustaWestland of just three helicopters.
 
AgustaWestland, the main supplier of helicopters to the UK’s armed forces, and its Italian parent company, Finmeccanica, were subject to investigations in Italy and India over the 2010 deal.
 
As part of their investigation into alleged corruption in the contract, Italian police in February 2013 arrested Giuseppe Orsi, who was chief executive of AgustaWestland, then chief executive and chairman of Finmeccanica, and Bruno Spagnolini, who succeeded Orsi as AgustaWestland’s chief executive.
 
Michel became embroiled in allegations of bribery over the contract in 2013, and light was shed on his role in the deal in bugged telephone conversations captured in a surveillance operation by Italian police.
 
The arrest warrant for Orsi and Spagnolini named Michel as a co-conspirator who received “€30 million, partly destined to support the corrupt activity meant to win the order and partly to implement the contract.”…………………..
 
…………………..Last year, Orsi and Spagnolini were found not guilty of corruption, but were given suspended prison sentences of two years for false accounting.

Italian prosecutors are due to start an appeal against the acquittals on corruption charges next month…………
 
…………..Geoff Hoon, former defence secretary, faces pressure over his role as managing director for AgustaWestland’s international business as the company has been plunged into a spate of corruption claims in Algeria and South Korea, as well as India…………….
 
Update 7 April 2016:
 
An appeal court in Italy today found Giuseppe Orsi and Bruno Spagnolini guilty of corruption. Orsi was sentenced to four-and-a-half years in prison, and Spagnolini to four.
 
The ruling overturns a lower court’s finding in 2014 that they were not guilty of corruption. The two former chief executives of AgustaWestland were, however, convicted in the previous ruling of falsifying invoices, and had each been sentenced to two years in jail.
 
The appeal court also ordered the two ex-executives to pay €7.5 million, which is the amount allegedly paid in bribes.
 
The finding of corruption by the appeal court marks a setback for AgustaWestland as it tries to restore its reputation.
 
Ennio Amodio, a lawyer for Orsi, said: “This sentence is inexplicable.” He also said that the two former bosses will appeal to Italy’s Supreme Court. They will not be detained until a final verdict is reached.
 
http://www.exaronews.com/articles/5727/wanted-by-interpol-mr-fixit-for-westland-s-560m-indian-deal