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Friday, March 4, 2011

Bofors: CBI allowed to close Quattrochi case



New Delhi:  A Delhi court has allowed the CBI to close its criminal case against Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrochi who was believed to be one of the major players in the Bofors scam.

An advocate named Ajay K Agrawal has been urging the court that the CBI must continue with its inquiry. The CBI said that after 25 years and 250 crores, it had not been able to get Mr Quattrocchi extradited to India, despite appeals in both Malaysia and Argentina. He left India in 1993 to avoid being arrested.

In 1986, Bofors landed a whopping 15 billion dollar contract. After Swiss media began reporting a year later that the company had paid massive kickbacks to politicians and defence officials, then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi assured Parliament that was not the case. However, the Bofors scandal cost him the general election in 1989.

Mr Quattorchi was believed to have been the main middleman between Bofors and Indian practitioners of power.


In 1990, the CBI filed a complaint in the case.

Mr Agrawal says he will challenge Friday's verdict in the Delhi High Court.

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