2013 Indian helicopter bribery scandal

In early 2013, an Indian national parliamentary investigation began into allegations of bribery and corruption involving several senior officials and a helicopter manufacturer AgustaWestland surrounding the purchase of a new fleet of helicopters. The scandal has been referred to as the Chopper scam or Choppergate by elements of the media and popular press.

Several Indian politicians and military officials have been accused of accepting bribes from AgustaWestland in order to win the ₹36 billion (US$530 million) Indian contract for the supply of 12 AgustaWestland AW101 helicopters; these helicopters are intended to perform VVIP duties for the President of India and other important state officials.Ahmed Patel political secretary to Congress President Sonia Gandhi is alleged by Italian prosecutors to have received kickbacks from the deal. A note presented in the Italian court, sent by middleman Christian Michel, asks Peter Hulett, an AgustaWestland employee, to target key advisors to Sonia Gandhi and lists their names as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Ahmed Patel, Pranab Mukherjee, M. Veerappa Moily, Oscar Fernandez, M. K. Narayanan and Vinay Singh The note also contains the bribes to be paid out, divided as "AF" €6 million, "BUR" €8.4 million, "Pol" €6 million and "AP" €3 million.

On 25 March 2013, India's Defence Minister A.K. Antony confirmed corruption allegations by stating : "Yes, corruption has taken place in the helicopter deal and bribes have been taken. The CBI is pursuing the case very vigorously." As of June 2014, the Indian government has recovered a total amount of ₹2,068 crore and has recovered around ₹1,620 crore (45% of the total contract value ₹3,600 crore) it had paid to AgustaWestland.

On 8 April 2016, the Milan Court of Appeal, in a 225-page judgement, overturned a lower court verdict and convicted helicopter manufacturer AgustaWestland's executive Giuseppe Orsi to four years' imprisonment for paying a 30 million Euro bribe to Indian politicians, bureaucrats and Indian Air Force officials.

India signed a contract to purchase 12 AgustaWestland AW101 helicopters in February 2010 for the Communication Squadron of Indian Air Force to carry the president, PM and other VVIPs. Controversy over the contract came to light on 12 February 2013 with the arrest of Giuseppe Orsi, the CEO of Finmeccanica, AgustaWestland's parent company by Italian authorities; the following day Indian Defence Minister A.K. Antony ordered a probe into the contract.

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