Orsi cleared of corruption over Indian helicopters

(ANSA) - Milan, October 9 - Judges on Thursday cleared Giuseppe Orsi, the former CEO and president of Italian defence giant Finmeccanica, of charges of international corruption in relation to alleged bribes paid to land a contract to sell 12 helicopters to the Indian government in 2010.
    Orsi was at the helm of Finmeccanica's helicopter division AgustaWestland in 2010 when it won the 566 million euros contract to supply the AW-101 choppers outfitted for VIP use.
    Bruno Spagnolini, who took over from Orsi as AgustaWestland CEO, also saw himself acquitted of the same charges.
    However both men were handed a two-year suspended sentence for false invoicing in the same year and ordered to pay 1.5 million euros in compensation to the Italian tax authorities, a plaintiff in the case.
    Orsi, who stood down as Finmeccanica chief following his arrest in February 2013, said his corruption acquittal was 'expected'.
    "I didn't expect anything different as I didn't commit the offence," said Orsi.
    Orsi and Spagnolini stood accused of paying a 51 million euro bribe to Indian officials to secure the chopper deal.
    Of this sum prosecutors said 14 million euros ended up in the hands of the powerful family of former Indian airforce chief of staff Sashi Tiagy. Orsi consistently denied any wrongdoing and said in a letter to a preliminary investigations judge his actions "had always been motivated by the exclusive interest of Finmeccanica and all its subsidiaries".
    Orsi told the judge he had no knowledge of illegal manoeuvres concerning the deal or knew the Indian Tiagi family.
    India froze payments on the helicopters in the wake of the allegations after only three had been delivered, before scrapping the contract altogether. The scandal did little to ease existing strained relations with India over the case of two Italian marines held in the country without formal charges on suspicion of killing two Indian fishermen during an international anti-piracy mission off the Kerala coast in February 2012.