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Bofors case won't be affected by Win Chadha's Belizian status: CBI

Win Chadha's acquisition of a Belize passport will not affect the Central Bureau of Investigation case against him, sources said Saturday.

Chadha, the former agent of the Swedish Bofors company in India and one of the main accused in the 640 million kickbacks scam, had secured a passport from Belize, a central American state, in December 1992, even before his Indian passport expired in 1993.

''The CBI was aware of the development and took prompt steps to ensure that its investigations are not affected by the change in status of Win Chadha,'' Bureau sources said.

Chadha had been living in Dubai since 1988. The government had impounded his Indian passport in August 1990 and offered to issue travelling papers if he was willing to return.

The CBI had named five persons -- Chadha, his late wife Kanta, son Harsh, and controversial Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi and wife Maria -- as recipients of kickbacks on the basis of Swiss bank documents brought from Berne, Switzerland, early last year.

The Supreme Court had subsequently allowed the CBI to seek fresh arrest warrants against Chadha. The Bureau, however, decided to do that after getting the government sanction to prosecute retired officials.

The CBI felt that the sanction, which is still awaited, would strengthen its move against Chadha.

Chadha's Belizean citizenship, sources pointed out, would not make any difference to the case -- Quattrocchi too was a foreign national, but the CBI had moved against him.

Further, the Bureau had got two Turkish firm executives extradited from Switzerland in the urea scam case, sources added.

They, however, would not disclose what steps they had taken in the light of Chadha's Belizean citizenship.

The CBI have examined former external affairs minister Madhavsinh Solanki, Gopi Arora, an official in the Prime Minister's Office when the Bofors deal was struck, former army chief general K Sundarji, and several retired lieutenant generals in the light of the Swiss bank documents.

CBI sources said the last set of documents from Switzerland was expected ''in the near future.''

UNI

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