The CBI was responsible for the inquiry into the Bofors scandal of 1986. Associates of then prime minister Rajiv Gandhi were linked to alleged pay-offs made in the mid-1980s by the Swedish arms firm AB Bofors, with $40 million in kickbacks moved from Britain and Panama to secret Swiss banks.
The 410 howitzer field guns purchased in the $1,300 million arms sale were reported to be inferior to those offered by a French competitor.
Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi was one of the prime accused in the scandal.
In January 2006, it was found that CBI had quietly unfrozen bank accounts of Ottavio Quattrocchi and has facilitated his travel across the globe by asking Interpol to take him off the “wanted” list on 29 Apr 2009.
It is often suspected that ruling governments interfere with the work of the CBI, and the handling of the Bofors investigation by CBI under Congress governments has created a new synonym for CBI.
