 "K V P Rao")
An extradition case involving a Ukrainian oligarch who has business connections to both Russian president Vladimir Putin and US president Donald Trump’s former campaign manager is likely to turn the focus back towards a now-forgotten mining scandal in Andhra Pradesh that involves a senior Congress politician with cross-party connections so extensive that no government seems eager to dig very deep.
Over the past few months, the American effort to secure the extradition from Austria of oil and gas magnate Dmytro Firtash – facing allegations in the United States that he led a conspiracy to pay $18.5 million in bribes to Indian officials to facilitate a $500 million titanium project in Andhra Pradesh – has taken many twists and turns.
In April 2014, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) made public the indictment of six people including Firtash and Congress Rajya sabha MP K V P Ramachandra Rao aka KVP, described in US court papers as “a close advisor to the now-deceased chief minister of the state of Andhra Pradesh, Y S Rajasekhara Reddy.” The indictment was dated June 2013.
Companies controlled by Firtash, the indictment said, were involved in a titanium sponge project that “required licenses and approval of both the Andhra Pradesh state government and the central government of India … The approval and issuance of such licenses were discretionary, non-routine governmental actions… (The) defendants used US financial institutions to engage in the international transmission of millions of dollars for the purpose of bribing Indian public officials to obtain approval of the necessary licenses for the project.”
Despite this indictment, no investigative agency in India has seen fit to question Rao – not during the tenure of the Manmohan Singh government at the centre, which demitted office one month after the US indictment was unsealed, or since the election of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in May 2014.
Firtash was arrested in Austria on March 12, 2014, at the request of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. A week later, he was released on a bail of €125m (£105m, $172m), the largest in Austrian legal history, but was asked not to leave the nation.
Firtash challenged US attempts to have him extradited and on April 30, 2015, a local court ruled in his favour. The judge held that more than a year had passed since the Ukrainian oligarch’s arrest in Vienna and that the US DOJ had not provided sufficient evidence to show that he had paid bribes in India. In particular, the court said that the US had not passed witnesses interview protocols.
The DOJ moved the Vienna court of appeals and on Tuesday, February 21, 2017, judge Leo Levnaic-Iwanski ordered Firtash to be extradited to the United States to stand trial in Chicago on bribery charges. The judge noted that the US authorities had provided additional documentation after the lower court’s order.
Firtash faces up to 50 years in prison and the seizure of all his assets if the case in Chicago eventually goes against him.
Before he could be put on a flight to the US, however, the Austrian authorities arrested Firtash on a Spanish arrest warrant related to charges of money laundering.
According to The Guardian, the prosecutor’s office said the arrest was due to supplementary information received from the Spanish authorities, raising the possibility that the oligarch may be extradited to Spain rather than the US, or at least to Spain before he eventually being moved on to Chicago.
“The case has taken on an extra dimension of geopolitical interest because the businessman is a one-time partner of Paul Manafort, formerly Donald Trump’s campaign manager,” the daily reported.
But it also a political hot potato in India given the alleged involvement of KVP and the yet-to-be-uncovered trail of payments that Firtash is said to have made to Indian officials and politicians.
Government inaction
Largely driven by US domestic statute that makes it an offence for American companies to bribe foreign officials, US investigative agencies have have played a major role in unearthing corruption cases involving Indian individuals.
In July 2015, the DOJ unearthed the Louis Berger bribery scandal, prompting the Indian authorities to swing into action and make arrests. The enforcement directorate (ED) even raided the residence and offices of Goa’s ex chief minister Digambar Kamat and his associates and relatives. Last year, the DOJ was instrumental in unearthing Brazilian defence firm Embraer’s bribery to Indian middlemen, which is currently being investigated by Indian authorities.
Over the past few months, the American effort to secure the extradition from Austria of oil and gas magnate Dmytro Firtash – facing allegations in the United States that he led a conspiracy to pay $18.5 million in bribes to Indian officials to facilitate a $500 million titanium project in Andhra Pradesh – has taken many twists and turns.
In April 2014, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) made public the indictment of six people including Firtash and Congress Rajya sabha MP K V P Ramachandra Rao aka KVP, described in US court papers as “a close advisor to the now-deceased chief minister of the state of Andhra Pradesh, Y S Rajasekhara Reddy.” The indictment was dated June 2013.
Companies controlled by Firtash, the indictment said, were involved in a titanium sponge project that “required licenses and approval of both the Andhra Pradesh state government and the central government of India … The approval and issuance of such licenses were discretionary, non-routine governmental actions… (The) defendants used US financial institutions to engage in the international transmission of millions of dollars for the purpose of bribing Indian public officials to obtain approval of the necessary licenses for the project.”
Despite this indictment, no investigative agency in India has seen fit to question Rao – not during the tenure of the Manmohan Singh government at the centre, which demitted office one month after the US indictment was unsealed, or since the election of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in May 2014.
Firtash was arrested in Austria on March 12, 2014, at the request of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. A week later, he was released on a bail of €125m (£105m, $172m), the largest in Austrian legal history, but was asked not to leave the nation.
Firtash challenged US attempts to have him extradited and on April 30, 2015, a local court ruled in his favour. The judge held that more than a year had passed since the Ukrainian oligarch’s arrest in Vienna and that the US DOJ had not provided sufficient evidence to show that he had paid bribes in India. In particular, the court said that the US had not passed witnesses interview protocols.
The DOJ moved the Vienna court of appeals and on Tuesday, February 21, 2017, judge Leo Levnaic-Iwanski ordered Firtash to be extradited to the United States to stand trial in Chicago on bribery charges. The judge noted that the US authorities had provided additional documentation after the lower court’s order.
Firtash faces up to 50 years in prison and the seizure of all his assets if the case in Chicago eventually goes against him.
Before he could be put on a flight to the US, however, the Austrian authorities arrested Firtash on a Spanish arrest warrant related to charges of money laundering.
According to The Guardian, the prosecutor’s office said the arrest was due to supplementary information received from the Spanish authorities, raising the possibility that the oligarch may be extradited to Spain rather than the US, or at least to Spain before he eventually being moved on to Chicago.
“The case has taken on an extra dimension of geopolitical interest because the businessman is a one-time partner of Paul Manafort, formerly Donald Trump’s campaign manager,” the daily reported.
But it also a political hot potato in India given the alleged involvement of KVP and the yet-to-be-uncovered trail of payments that Firtash is said to have made to Indian officials and politicians.
Government inaction
Largely driven by US domestic statute that makes it an offence for American companies to bribe foreign officials, US investigative agencies have have played a major role in unearthing corruption cases involving Indian individuals.
In July 2015, the DOJ unearthed the Louis Berger bribery scandal, prompting the Indian authorities to swing into action and make arrests. The enforcement directorate (ED) even raided the residence and offices of Goa’s ex chief minister Digambar Kamat and his associates and relatives. Last year, the DOJ was instrumental in unearthing Brazilian defence firm Embraer’s bribery to Indian middlemen, which is currently being investigated by Indian authorities.
