Middleman Sushen Gupta Received Kickbacks For Facilitating Sale Of Rafale Jets To India Between 2007-2012: Report

French news portal Mediapart has alleged that Sushen Gupta from Dassault Aviation obtained kickbacks worth 7.5 million euros from 2007-2012 for influencing the sale of the Rafale fighter jets to India.

These payoffs received by Gupta have apparently been corroborated by sources in the investigative agencies.

They claim that a probe is pending as the current investigation against him is restricted to the Agusta-Westland bribery case.

Hence, a different FIR needs to be filed against Gupta and his benefactors in the Rafale payoffs case.

The French news portal says that Gupta received bribes via his Mauritius entity ‘Interstellar’ under the garb of ‘dubious IT contracts’.

Even in the Agusta Westland VVIP chopper deal, Gupta received bribes worth Rs 423 crore through Interstellar Technologies Ltd as well.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has explained in its chargesheet against Gupta that the kickbacks in the Agusta Westland deal moved from one company to another as consultancy fees.

The proceeds of the bribes were then transferred to Interstellar Technologies from Tunisian entities.

Gupta was arrested by the ED in relation to this case back in 2019, Times of India reports.