Air India: CBI begins probe into pay-off charges

New Delhi: The CBI has begun an in-house probe into pay-off allegations concerning a $100 million Air India contract in 2007 when Mr Praful Patel was Civil Aviation Minister, a charge which he has rubbished as “baseless and preposterous“.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) had approached the probe agency through diplomatic channels informing them about the scandal and allegations made against Indo-Canadian businessman Mr Nazir Karigar who claimed that he had paid a bribe of $250,000 to an aide of Mr Patel, official sources said on Sunday. The contract has since been scrapped.
The CBI had recently asked the Canadian authorities for a statement from Mr Karigar, who, according to a Canadian newspaper, was to be prosecuted by the authorities in Toronto under the newly-legislated Foreign Public Officials Act.
Air India had floated a tender in 2006 for computerised passenger face recognition biometrics system and the businessman was representing CrypoMetrics company.
Mr Karigar had claimed that he had met Mr Patel through former Mumbai Police Commissioner Hasan Gafoor and allegedly paid the bribe amount to the minister’s aide for pushing the contract in favour of his company.
The contract was, however, scrapped after internal objections by officials of the Air India and Civil Aviation Ministry.
12/02/12 PTI/Business Line

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Categories: Air India Feb 2012, airports Feb 2012, Foreign Feb 2012