Dmitry Firtash, one of the most influential Ukrainian oligarchs, was charged with bribing Indian officials to gain access to titanium mines in India while six persons including a Sri Lankan businessman are under investigation, the U.S. Justice Department said.
Periyasamy Sunderalingam, aka “Sunder”, 60, of Sri Lanka is among the six people, which also includes Firtash, a Hungarian entrepreneur, another Ukrainian citizen, an Indian politician and a businessman from India, who are under investigation.
U.S. prosecutors said that about 18.5 million dlrs had been handed over to Indian officials since 2006 to secure rights to mine titanium in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. The mining project was expected to generate 500 mln dlrs annually from the sale of titanium, including to a company based in Chicago.
Prosecutors said Firtash had negotiated with Indian officials and ordered to pay them in exchange for preferences to secure mining licenses, and documents were falsified, on his instructions, for the money transfer.
The investigation was conducted by the FBI in Chicago, the U.S. Justice Department said in a press release on Wednesday.
On March 21, Firtash was released in Vienna on a 125-mln-euro bail from custody. He was held there after he was detained at the request of U.S. law enforcement authorities.
As was noted in the United States, Firtash was a major player in the sale of Russian gas to Ukraine.
Ukrainian industrialist Dmitry Firtash, mastermind behind the $18.5-million scheme to bribe Indian officials, allegedly met with Indian government officials, including the then chief minister Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy, to discuss the project and its progress, and authorised payment of at least $18.5 million in bribes to both state and Central government officials to secure the approval of licenses for the project.
He also allegedly directed his subordinates to create documents to make it falsely appear that money transferred for the purpose of paying these bribes was transferred for legitimate commercial purposes, and he appointed various subordinates to oversee efforts to obtain the licenses through bribery.
The other four accused are Andras Knopp, 75, a Hungarian businessman, Suren Gevorgyan, 40, of Ukraine, Gajendra Lal, 50, an Indian national and permanent resident of the US and Periyasamy Sunderalingam, aka “Sunder”, 60, of Sri Lanka.
The indictment lists 57 transfers of funds between various entities, some controlled by Group DF, in various amounts totaling more than $10.59 million from April 28, 2006, through July 13, 2010.
The indictment, which was returned under seal in June 2013, was made public on Wednesday, a few weeks after prosecutors said they planned to ask Austria to extradite Mr Firtash.
US prosecutors said they had jurisdiction over the case because the defendants used US financial institutions to transfer the bribes and because the defendants had planned to sell the titanium products to an unnamed American company based in Chicago. Some of the defendants were also charged with violating the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which bars bribes to officials of foreign governments in exchange for business.
“The charges against six foreign nationals announced today send the unmistakable message that we will root out and attack foreign bribery and bring to justice those who improperly influence foreign officials, wherever we find them,” said US acting assistant attorney general David O’Neil. – Agencies
