£5 mn can buy permanent UK residency for wanted crooks. No wonder arms dealer Sudhir Choudhrie, defaulter Vijay Mallya and scamster Lalit Modi live honourably in London.
Around the time in 2013 when the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) put arms dealer Sudhir Choudhrie on the list of “undesirable contact men”, Theresa May, then the UK’s home secretary and now its prime minister, presented him with an Asian Business award for lifetime achievement. The suave businessman was blacklisted by the CBI as he was suspected of manipulating government contracts, and ministers and bureaucrats were expected to take extra care while dealing with him. Choudhrie was being investigated for his role in the contracts to upgrade 130 mm field-guns and the Barak missile deal in 2006. Even while the probe was on, Choudhrie moved to London and soon acquired British citizenship.
The billionaire arms dealer is now known to be a philanthropist, and almost got elected to the House of Lords as a long-time supporter of the Liberal Democrats. Now, the UK’s Serious Frauds Office (SFO) has found that companies linked to Choudhrie and his son Bhanu may have been paid bribes by some defence companies, including Rolls Royce and MiG, for contracts.
Will it embarrass the UK? Not likely. The SFO probe was on since 2014, when the father -son duo were detained and bailed out unconditionally. Despite that Choudhrie flourished, living a life of luxury in the heart of London’s Belgravia, where he and his family own a number of mansions.
Choudhrie typifies hundreds of others like him, who have found a safe haven in the UK, fleeing the the law in India. The CBI had to close investigations against him after the UK did not respond to letters rogatory (LR's) sent by them. The investigative agencies claim that they see this pattern in most of the cases and want the matter to be taken up by the government at the diplomatic level.
この記事は Outlook の November 14, 2016 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です ? サインイン
この記事は Outlook の November 14, 2016 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です? サインイン
Layers Of Lear
Director Rajat Kapoor and actor Vinay Pathak's ode to Shakespeare is an experience to behold
Loss and Longing
Memories can be painful, but they also make life more meaningful
Suprabhatham Sub Judice
M.S. Subbulakshmi decided the fate of her memorials a long time ago
Fortress of Desire
A performance titled 'A Streetcart Named Desire', featuring Indian and international artists and performers, explored different desires through an unusual act on a full moon night at the Gwalior Fort
Of Hope and Hopelessness
The body appears as light in Payal Kapadia's film
Ruptured Lives
A visit to Bangladesh in 2010 shaped the author's novel, a sensitively sketched tale of migrants' struggles
The Big Book
The Big Book of Odia Literature is a groundbreaking work that provides readers with a comprehensive introduction to the rich and varied literary traditions of Odisha
How to Refuse the Generous Thief
The poet uses all the available arsenal in English to write the most anti-colonial poetry
The Freedom Compartment
#traindiaries is a photo journal shot in the ladies coaches of Mumbai locals. It explores how women engage and familiarise themselves with spaces by building relationships with complete strangers
Love, Up in the Clouds
Manikbabur Megh is an unusual love story about a man falling for a cloud. Amborish Roychoudhury discusses the process of Manikbabu's creation with actor Chandan Sen and director Abhinandan Banerjee
