Goa Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar on Saturday said he will demand a CBI probe into revelations made by the US Justice Department that a minister and officials were paid bribes by a consultancy firm to secure a water distribution project. He too hinted at a CBI probe, saying he would approach the PM soon.
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A New Jersey-based mostly development administration firm has been charged with bribing Indian officers a number of crores of rupees to win two main water developmental tasks in Goa and in Guwahati. “The company paid bribes to win both of these contracts”, federal prosecutors alleged.
“All the tenders for the JAICA (Japan global Cooperation Agency) project were issued as per central public works department norms. It should now be revealed which minister took the bribe”.
Addressing BJP workers in Margao town, Mr Parrikar said the incident happened when the Diga-mbar Kamat-led government was in power.
“”I have also added the details of amounts paid to (the company) as of date by (the consortium partner) in the same sheet.’ The attachment included an entry, ‘Paid by (an agent of the company) to minister on behalf of agent””, the federal prosecutors said.
LBI admitted to violations of the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and agreed to pay a $ 17.1 million penalty to resolve charges that it bribed foreign officials, the US Justice Department said in a release on July 17.
The beneficiaries of the $ 9,76,630 paid for the Goa project in August 2010 allegedly included a minister.
Two of its former executives -?Richard Hirsch (sixty one) of Philippines, and James McClung (fifty nine) of the UAE – pleaded responsible to the bribery expenses. USA federal prosecutors, in an 11-page chargesheet, said Louis Berger maintained a detailed diary and account of the bribery of Indian officials.
Mr. Sardesai reminded that he had expressed his doubts about Louis Berger in the Goa Legislative Assembly in 2013 and the then Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar had even gone ahead and defended the company.
The Indian government, in association with the Japanese government, has started the rehabilitation projects in due to the extension of water supply and sewerage projects in Goa.
The team developed a project management information system and plan, evaluated bids, reviewed design and construction plans, and ensured quality work was done on time and within budget, the company says on its website.
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“Along with several consortium partners, the company won two water development projects in Goa and Guwahati”.
