New Delhi: Blowing a hole in Congress defense in the Rs 3600 crore VVIP Chopper scam, Italian Judge Marco Maria Maiga, who delivered the verdict in bribery case, has said that a note from a middleman listing "AP" as the intended recipient of a bribe is authentic.
Speaking to a leading News Channel, the Italian Judge said that middleman Guido Haschke’s note referring to ‘AP’ — that Treasury bench claims referred to Ahmed Patel — and other politicians seemed authentic.
Noting that his judgement focused on Italian middlemen,Judge Maiga said,"My judgment does not give a clean chit to Indian politicians. It is up to India to now follow up on investigating its politicians.”
The judge said, Mr Haschke ( the alleged middlemen) was vague, stating that he couldn't remember who it denoted. The same note lists categories like "FAM" and "POL".
The former allegedly refers to the family of former Air Chief SP Tyagi, who was interrogated by the CBI this week about accepting kickbacks.
The Italian judge also said that the evidence against the former chief of the air force SP Tyagi is substantial.
The note he refers to was written by Guido Haschke, one of three middlemen who India has said it wants to question about the scam.
The ruling NDA has alleged that "AP" refers to Ahmed Patel, the chief advisor to Congress president Sonia Gandhi. Mr Patel and his party had challenged the veracity of the document, and alleged in Parliament today that the Italian verdict speaks of no conclusive findings on which Indian politicians accepted kickbacks.
Last Month, Judge Maiga of the Milan Court of Appeals,convicted top executives of Agusta, an Anglo-Italian defense manufacturer, of bribing Indians in exchange for a 12-helicopter deal worth 3,600 crores.
The notes have many references to 'GK' and 'Julie'. Investigators are trying to establish whether these refer to, respectively, Gautam Khaitan, the lawyer chargesheeted by ED for allegedly routing Agusta's bribe money to India, and Julie Tyagi, one of the cousins of ex-air chief SP Tyagi.
