Sanjay Bhandari had received around $5 million from the Korean firm to secure the contract, CBI alleged
New Delhi:
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has registered a fresh case against purported arms dealer Sanjay Bhandari and South Korea-based Samsung Engineering Company Limited on charges of alleged corruption in connection with a project in Gujarat’s Dahej, officials of the agency said.
The probe agency alleged that Sanjay Bhandari had obtained around $5 million from Samsung Engineering Company Limited (SECL) to influence public servants and secure the contract for SECL.
CBI has also named the then Senior Manager of SECL Hong Namkoong, UK-based Foster Wheeler Energy Limited and Sanjay Bhandari’s UAE-based company Santech International FZC, besides unidentified officials of ONGC and its special vehicle ONGC Petro Additions Limited (OPAL), in the alleged corruption case.
Sanjay Bhandari, who is being probed in a number of defence deals, is believed to be in London, they said.
The CBI has alleged that Sanjay Bhandari, as Director of Santech International, entered into a criminal conspiracy with SECL by charging a consultancy fee of $4.9 million, in violation of the integrity clause in the contract agreement between the Korean major and OPAL.
The alleged consultancy fee was received in overseas accounts of Santech International, they said.
The agency has alleged that the consultancy charges were understood to be bribes for public officials to swing the contract for OPAL’s Dual Fuel Cracker Unit to be set at Dahej Petrochemical complex in Gujarat in the favour of SECL.