Rolls Royce bribery: ED, CBI to visit UK

A joint team of CBI and Enforcement Directorate officials is likely to visit London to get financial details about Rolls Royce, the firm which has been recently booked by the both central probe agencies in a corruption case.

Sources said, “A joint team of CBI and ED officials is likely to visit London very soon. They (officials) will interact with their foreign counterparts about the financial transactions of London-based Rolls Royce with its Indian subsidiary. Final decision to send a team of CBI and ED officials to London will be taken in a day or two”. There are allegations that Rolls Royce and its Indian subsidiary engaged services of an agent to get contracts from public sector companies in India, including Hindustan Aeronautics Limited , Oil and Natural Gas Corporation and GAIL. The company has been booked over the alleged payment of over `77 crore as commission to an agent to win contracts from public sector units like HAL, ONGC and GAIL India between 2007 and 2011. The ED filed a money laundering case on the basis of an FIR registered by the CBI.

The case was registered after a five-year long inquiry by the CBI, initiated on the basis of a complaint from the defence ministry which had itself received a complaint about the engagement of Singapore-based Ashok Patni and his company Aashmore Pvt Ltd by Rolls Royce.

Rolls Royce, its Indian subsidiary, Patni, his company and Mumbai-based Turbotech Energy Services International Private Ltd besides unidentified officials of HAL, ONGC and GAIL were booked for criminal conspiracy and bribery.

There are allegations that the total business of HAL with the Rolls Royce was around `4,700 crore between 2000 to 2013. It is alleged that Rolls Royce paid `18 crore to Patni as “commercial advisor” in 100 supply orders of Avon and Allison Engines spare parts to HAL between 2007-11, sources said. The agency alleged that Patni was also engaged in direct contracts of Rolls Royce with ONGC and GAIL for the supply of spare parts.