The CBI is likely to register a regular case in the `3,700-crore AgustaWestland VVIP helicopter deal and sought legal opinion to name former Air Force Chief SP Tyagi and his cousins for hatching a criminal conspiracy with the middlemen to favour the Italian company.
Once the CBI gets the green signal, it will file an FIR against Tyagi and his cousins.
Sources said the agency has unearthed the money trail behind the deal and has sought the opinion of its Prosecution Directorate to find out whether the material gathered by it is sufficient to proceed with a regular case and if former Air Force Chief SP Tyagi can be named in the case.
The CBI on Friday questioned former Union Minister Santosh Bagrodia’s brother Satish who is the Chairman of IDS Infotech, one of the companies suspected to be involved in the bribery scandal.
IDS Infotech is a software company that has been named in its Preliminary Enquiry (PE) as one of the companies which was allegedly used to route the bribe money from Tunisia and Mauritius under the garb of engineering contracts.
Satish does not figure in the PE but was questioned by the agency sleuths about the alleged channeling of the bribe money through his company by European middlemen. Satish is the chairman of the Chandigarh-based firm.
Satish refuted the allegations and said he did not interfere in the day-to-day working of the company which is handled by other senior executives and board members, CBI sources said.
The alleged role of IDS Infotech had cropped up in the report submitted by Italian prosecutors who claimed that the share of the bribe money to be distributed in India was routed through it under the cover of fake vouchers for payments towards bogus contracts.
The report alleged IDS Infotech generated fake bills for software work for the helicopter firm AgustaWestland to pump in the alleged bribe money from Tunisia and Mauritius.
The helicopter deal with AgustaWestland came under the scanner after the head of its parent company, the Italian aerospace major Finmeccanica that is suspected of paying bribes of about Rs 362 crore in India to get orders for the helicopters, was arrested, prompting the Defence Ministry to order a CBI probe.