Embraer deal probe: CBI questions alleged middleman

The CBI has recorded the statement of businessman Vipin Khanna in connection with its probe in the case of payment of alleged commission by aircraft maker Embraer to clinch the $208-million deal with India.

The agency is probing the alleged payment of $5.70 million as commission to seal the deal, sources said.

The deal for three aircraft, which were to be used by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) for air-borne radar systems, was inked with Embraer in 2008.

According to defence procurement rules of India, middlemen are strictly barred in defence deals. They said Khanna, who is a suspect in the FIR registered by the CBI, was also asked about his alleged links with people whom he is understood to have approached to influence the deal.

The agency has received records from the United States about the deal. On the basis of these documents, the CBI also asked Khanna to clarify the money trail of the alleged commission. Embraer has been under investigation by the US Justice Department since 2010 when a contract with the Dominican Republic raised suspicions, the report said.

The sources said 87-year-old Khanna might be called again in connection with its probe. A Brazilian newspaper had alleged that that the company had taken the services of middlemen to clinch deals in Saudi Arabia and India.