German aviation agent expelled from India

New Delhi: An agent working for Eurojet in India has been expelled for alleged fraudulent activities involving company's bid for a major $822 million jet engine deal.
The agent, a German, was allegedly caught trying to bribe Indian defense officials to replace a Eurojet commercial bid with that of a lower one after discovering that the bid was higher than others, the 24-hour English-language news television channel News X said.
But the attempt backfired, News X said. Shortly after his alleged bribery was discovered, he was told to leave the county immediately, which he did last month. The agent, identified as "von Schoenfeld," had worked in New Delhi for eight years.
After leaving India, he reportedly told Indian media -- before any announcement by Indian defense officials -- that the Eurojet bid was the lowest bid, in particular 18 percent lower than that of General Electric.
A report in India's Business Standard newspaper said it had knowledge that the European consortium Eurojet bid $666 million for the 99 engines, against General Electric's bid of $822 million.
The agent's disclosures to the media prompted the military's Defense Research and Development Organization to issue a statement ahead of officially awarding the contract, saying that GE Avionics with their GE F414 engine was the lowest bidder for the contract.
29/10/10 UPI

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Categories: Foreign Oct 2010