Quattrocchi threatens defamation suits against Indian media

Ottavio Quattrocchi, who was named by the Central Bureau of Investigation, as a recipient of part of the Rs 640 million kickbacks in the Bofors deal, has threatened to take legal action against, what he says, is a press campaign to defame him.

The twelve-member special investigation team led by CBI Additional Director N Revenna Siddaiah, disclosed after scrutinising 500-odd pages of Swiss bank documents for more that a fortnight, announced on Tuesday that the papers revealed that Quattrocchi and his wife Maria were recipients of the alleged commissions.

Quattrocchi reacted within hours of the announcement, reportedly stating that 'these are mere stories'.

In a faxed massage from Kuala Lumpur to United News of India, Quattrocchi said, "It has come to my knowledge that certain Indian media have linked my name with the Bofors affair. In this connection, I wish to state emphatically and unequivocally that no relationship whatsoever has ever existed at any point in time between me and Bofors."

''Since this press campaign against me has spread internationally and has gravely damaged my reputation both in India and internationally, I wish to state emphatically that I will take all such legal measures as may be necessary in India and/or in any other appropriate fora to defend my reputation.''

Interestingly, immediately after the CBI disclosure, a Bofors official in Stockholm reiterated the company's earlier stand that the money paid were not bribes. This, Bofors said, represented only the final settlement with a view to severing the contract with them after the agreement with India stipulated that there would be no middlemen in the contract.

Quattrocchi left India in July 1993, soon after the Swiss authorities revealed that he figured among the appellants opposing the handing over of the bank papers to India.