The $208 million jet deal with Brazilian aircraft maker Embraer during the UPA regime has kicked up dust with US authorities going into alleged payment of kickbacks while India has sought information
The $208 million jet deal with Brazilian aircraft maker Embraer during the UPA regime has kicked up dust with US authorities going into alleged payment of kickbacks while India has sought information from the company within 15 days.
After Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) receives information, further steps may be initiated, the defence ministry said on Saturday after reports emerged that the 2008 deal has come under the scanner of the US Justice Department which has been probing Embraer for alleged payment of bribes to secure contracts.
“DRDO has sought information from Embraer aircraft manufacture within 15 days on reports on aircraft deal signed in 2008,” the ministry sources said.
The deal was signed in 2008 between Embraer and the DRDO for three aircraft equipped with indigenous radars for AEW&C (airborne early warning and control systems). The company has been under investigation by the US Justice Department since 2010.
The BJP attacked the Congress on the issue. Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said they thought that the stories of the Congress corruption would be less heard since change of power in 2014. However, every deal is giving signal of taint.
“The past of UPA always keeps on appearing with alarming regularity,” he said at a press conference at the BJP office.
The company has been under investigation by the US Justice Department since 2010 when a contract with the Dominican Republic raised the Americans’ suspicions.
