INDIA, federal police documents indicate that India has filed a graft case against the UK's BAE Systems and Rolls-Royce for criminal conspiracy related to the purchasing and manufacturing of 123 advanced jet trainers.
The document said that the case is based on the findings of an investigation by the Indian Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in 2016, which was launched in late May.
The allegations were revealed back in 2017 when it paid a fine of 497 million pounds to the UK's Serious Fraud Office SFO to settle a case involving transactions with various countries, including China, India and Thailand.
The company is continuing to assist Indian authorities in their investigation, and it is now a fundamentally different business, a spokeswoman said.
The trainer jet's makers reportedly paid commissions, in violation of Indian defense contract rules to middlemen, who allowed them to win the contracts by exerting undue influence on government officials in India.
Between 2003 and 2012, Rolls-Royce India and its officials also entered into a criminal conspiracy with unknown Indian defense minister officials and two middlemen for contracts linked to the trainer jets, the report said.
In 2005, India signed a deal to buy 24 Hawk 115 advanced jet trainers for 734.21 million pounds, and licensed the production of 42 jets for 308.25 million pounds, as well as the supply of materials and related technology transfers.
The CBI said such transactions were made in lieu of huge bribes, commissions and kickbacks paid by the said manufacturer and its officers to intermediaries.