Corruption in Rafale Deal, Dassault paid 1 million Euros to Middlemen
A French website has made several sensational revelations about the Rafale defense deal. A French media report claims that Dassault, the French company that makes Rafale, had to pay around Rs 8 crore 62 lakh as a gift to a middleman in India
New Delhi, 5/4: The bubble of corruption has once again burst in the Rafale fighter jet deal between India and France. A French website has made several sensational revelations about the Rafale defense deal. A French media report claims that Dassault, the French company that makes Rafale, had to pay around Rs 8 crore 62 lakh as a gift to a middleman in India.
France’s website Mediapart on Sunday released a report called ‘Rafale Papers’, which has made many more revelations about the Rafale deal. The Rafale Papers claimed that Dassault Aviation had paid crores of rupees to an Indian middleman in the Rafale deal in exchange for the Rafale jet.
The report states that the Indian middleman was given 10 lakh Euros or about 8 crore 62 lakh rupees. No correct answer has been given to the French anti-corruption officials on behalf of Rafale Company regarding this money.
This was revealed when AFA, the French anti-corruption agency, audited Dassault’s accounts. According to a MediaPart report, Dassault had stated in the disclosure that these funds were used to make 50 big ‘models’ of Rafale fighter aircraft, but no such models were made.
The report claimed that the agency did not take any action even after this was revealed in the audit, which also showed the collusion of French politicians and the justice system. In fact, in 2018 in France, an agency Paraquette National Finance (PNF) had said that there was a mess in this deal, only then the audit was conducted and these things were revealed.
