Dassault denies allegations of irregularities in Rafale cope with India

Dassault Aviation, the maker of Rafale fighter jets, has denied the report by French media outlet Mediapart, which had claimed that the corporate had paid a bribe of € 1.1 million to an Indian firm. Dassault has stated that no violations have been reported within the sale of 36 Rafale jet to India within the government-to-government deal.
“Numerous controls are carried out by official organizations, including the French Anti-Corruption Agency. No violations were reported, notably in the frame of the contract with India for the acquisition of 36 Rafales,” the corporate stated. The firm additionally stated that it “wishes to reiterate that it acts in strict compliance with the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention and national laws, in particular the law of December 9, 2016 known as Sapin 2”.
In a press release launched on eighth April, Dassault Aviation stated that it has “implemented strict internal procedures to prevent corruption, guaranteeing the integrity, ethics and reputation of the company in its industrial and commercial relations. In the context of the Sapin 2 law, the company has completed and strengthened its system for the prevention and detection of corruption and influence peddling, both at the level of the parent company and its subsidiaries.”
The firm stated that the contract with India for 36 Rafale jets, together with the corresponding offset contracts, meet the factors established by these rules and are being executed in full transparency between the assorted authorities and industrial companions.
The firm additionally knowledgeable that Dassault Aviation and the Reliance Group established the Dassault Reliance Aerospace Ltd (DRAL) Joint Venture in 2017 and constructed a plant in Nagpur that has been producing quite a few Falcon elements and items since 2018. Falcon is a enterprise jet manufactured by the French aviation large.
The Mediapart report had stated that French anti-corruption company Agence Française Anticorruption (AFA) had found that Dassault had paid a million euros to a intermediary who’s now below investigation in India in reference to one other defence deal. According to the report, Dassault had clarified the fee saying that it paid to the Indian firm to fabricate 50 giant duplicate fashions of Rafale jets. The expenditure was reportedly proven below “Gifts to Clients” in Dassault accounts, implying that the fashions have been ordered to offer away as presents to its shoppers.
Dassault had additionally offered the anti-corruption company with invoices by Indian firm Defsys Solutions in opposition to the provision of the fashions. However, the report claims that the corporate was unable to point out proof of truly supply of the fashions.
Defsys Solutions is owned by the household of Sushen Mohan Gupta, who was arrested by ED in 2019 for his involvement in kickbacks paid within the AgustaWestland helicopter deal. The firm has additionally denied the claims of receiving cash from Dassault with out delivering something, saying it obtained fee for making replicas of Rafale. “This is in response to wholly unsubstantiated, baseless and misleading claims appearing in certain sections of the media, insinuating that Defsys never supplied 50 replica models of Rafale aircraft,” the corporate stated in a press release.
Defsys has additionally stated that “Delivery challans, E-way bills and GST returns related to such delivery have been duly filed with the relevant authorities.”