Abhishek Verma (arms dealer)

Abhishek Verma
Abhishek Verma with his father Late Shrikant Verma in New York circa 1984
Abhishek Verma with Late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi circa 1986
Abhishek Verma with Indian actor Rishi Kapoor circa 1978
Abhishek Verma with his wife Anca Verma

Abhishek Verma (अभिषेक वर्मा ; born 23 February 1968 in New Delhi, India) is a billionaire arms dealer and the main suspect in the Scorpene submarines deal, AgustaWestland VVIP helicopters bribery scandal and Navy War Room Leak Case.

Personal life

Abhishek’s father, Shrikant Verma, was a leading journalist before Indira Gandhi brought him into the Congress Party and made him a member of the 1976 Indian Parliament.[1]

From an early age, Abhishek[2] was exposed to the media in his public life due to the assistance he provided his father. Abhishek’s mother, Veena Verma, served for fourteen years as a Member of Parliament, and served the Congress Party as Vice-President, responsible for the women's section, or Mahila Congress.[3]

Abhishek was linked to several beauty queens in the past and in 2001 he was engaged to marry former Miss Greece who was Miss Universe runner's up Evelina Papantoniou.[4][5] He was also dating Playboy center-fold Simone Cronstrand[6][7] prior to marrying 'Miss Romania', Anca Neacsu.[8][9]

Career

Abhishek was featured- as a result of his billionaire-status- on the cover of India Today in November 1997.[10] He was Chairman of Atlas Interactive India Private Limited and signed an agreement with the Indian Government to run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited to provide the technology for 'netTV' (television through an internet connection) by 2004.[11]

Allegations of corruption and imprisonment

In 2006, Abhishek was accused by the opposition political party BJP of receiving kickbacks amounting to around US$200 million, through a US$4.5 billion Indian Military deal, as a consequence of the Indian government purchasing six Scorpène-class submarines from Thales. The BJP raised this in Parliament, pointing out Abhishek’s proximity to the Congress party, and alleged he had only gained the franchise to negotiate the contract with Thales as a result of bribing certain Congress Party politicians.[12][13][14]

Abhishek and Thales immediately denied all the allegations, and launched a lawsuit against The Outlook Magazine, which had been the first to break the story in February 2006. Abhishek then also sued the former BJP Deputy Prime Minister of India, L. K. Advani, for criminal defamation; Advani had campaigned against Abhishek, demanding the Government charge the latter with corruption.[15]

In 2009 the Delhi High Court exonerated Abhishek when the Central Bureau of Investigation published their report into the allegations: they stated that the monies received by Abhishek was not a result of the submarine sale.[16] CBI raided Abhishek's 10 premises and establishments in India on 7 June 2012 after registration of cases of Corruption & Money Laundering.[17][18]

Abhishek's co-accused in the Navy War Room Leak case, Ravi Shankaran has since sought asylum in London since Government of India failed in its ten-year effort to extradite him.[19][20]

In 2013, Abhishek was named a suspect in the AgustaWestland 12 VVIP helicopters scandal to the Indian Government for massive bribes exceeding Euros 50 million were paid to the Indian politicians including Sonia Gandhi as alleged by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy. Abhishek is suspected to have played the role as the middleman in the chopper deal and the nexus was exposed by TimesNow TV with their global investigation.[21][22][23]

Due to various other arms deal-related cases that Abhishek and his wife are allegded to have been involved in, the government attempted to freeze their secret bank accounts in Liechtenstein, which are reputed to hold over US$500 million (in the LGT Bank in Liechtenstein AG; however the Liechtenstein authorities rejected the Indian government's request to open the accounts in 2015.[24][25][26]

When Enforcement Directorate raids were carried out at Abhishek's farmhouse, among the goods seized were 36 paintings, valued at over US$5 million[27][28] and high end designer watches worth US$1 million.[29]

Politics

Abhishek is the main witness in 1984 Sikh Riots genocide case against Congress Leader Jagdish Tytler. The courts in December 2015 directed the CBI to record Abhishek's testimony as witness# 8 in this case against Tytler.[30][31] The other high profile witness in this case is Amitabh Bachchan.[32]

It has been suggested that Abhishek has financed several of Congress's election campaigns,[33] and that he has a deep-rooted connection with the Gandhi family.[34] In the international defence and armament companies circles Abhishek is known as the 'Lord of War'.[35][36]

Abhishek was nominated to contest Lok Sabha (House of Commons) parliamentary elections from Congress Party in 1996, which offer he turned down due to personal reasons.[37]

As of 8 June 2012, Abhishek and his wife Anca remain incarcerated in Tihar Jail Delhi, awaiting trial on charges of corruption and money laundering.[38][39]

References

  1. ↑ Magadh – Shrikant Verma : Small Press Distribution. Spdbooks.org (9 January 2013). Retrieved on 2016-04-11.
  2. ↑ The world of Abhishek Verma – Indian Express. Archive.indianexpress.com (22 July 2012). Retrieved on 2016-04-11.
  3. ↑ Delhi: Former MP Veena Verma's farmhouse burgled. Ndtv.com (3 December 2013). Retrieved on 2016-04-11.
  4. ↑ "Abhishek was to marry Evelina Papantoniou former Miss Universe".
  5. ↑ "Evelina & Abhishek newsarticle 2001 Outlook magazine".
  6. ↑ "Abhishek dating Simone Cronstrand in the past".
  7. ↑ "Photoshoot of Simone Cronstrand from Swedish website".
  8. ↑ Meeting of arms dealer's wife with defence ministry brass leaves govt red-faced – Times of India. Timesofindia.indiatimes.com. Retrieved on 11 April 2016.
  9. ↑ Arms dealer, wife have a jailhouse romance in Tihar | india. Hindustan Times. Retrieved on 11 April 2016.
  10. ↑ India Today Cover Story [Super Rich: New Tastes And Toys]. Archives.digitaltoday.in (10 November 1997). Retrieved on 2016-04-11.
  11. ↑ New Delhi News : Atlas, BSNL tie up for `netTV'. The Hindu (13 June 2004). Retrieved on 2016-04-11.
  12. ↑ Sting Of The Scorpene. Outlookindia.com. Retrieved on 11 April 2016.
  13. ↑ Arms dealer Abhishek Verma, wife get bail:IBNLive Videos. Ibnlive.com. Retrieved on 11 April 2016.
  14. ↑ Former ‘partners’ accuse each other of fraud in massive defence deals. Sunday-guardian.com. Retrieved on 11 April 2016.
  15. ↑ Advani, arms dealer framed me in Scorpene deal: Abhishek Verma – India News – Webindia123.com. News.webindia123.com (24 March 2006). Retrieved on 2016-04-11.
  16. ↑ Money received by Abhishek Verma not related to Scorpene deal: CBI | Zee News. Zeenews.india.com (21 March 2009). Retrieved on 2016-04-11.
  17. ↑ "Video Abhishek Verma raided June 7, 2012".
  18. ↑ "Abhishek Verma raided June 7, 2012 - Times of India".
  19. ↑ Bundesrat Ueli Maurer und Indiens «Lord of War» – Schweiz – az Aargauer Zeitung. Aargauerzeitung.ch (15 July 2014). Retrieved on 2016-04-11.
  20. ↑ KORRUPTION: Evas Kanonen – DER SPIEGEL 39/2013. Spiegel.de (21 September 2013). Retrieved on 2016-04-11.
  21. ↑ "Abhishek Verma played middleman in AgustaWestland 12 VVIP helicopters bribery scandal 2013 news on TimesNow".
  22. ↑ "Times of India - AgustaWestland Scam news related to Abhishek Verma".
  23. ↑ "Abhishek Verma involvement in VVIP Helicopters - newsitem MINT newspaper".
  24. ↑ Submit proof to freeze Abhishek Verma's bank account, says Liechtenstein to ED – timesofindia-economictimes. Articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com. Retrieved on 11 April 2016.
  25. ↑ Setback for ED probing Abhishek Verma's foreign bank accounts : North, News – India Today. Indiatoday.intoday.in (16 November 2014). Retrieved on 2016-04-11.
  26. ↑ Swiss authorities refuse to share information on Abhishek Verma – timesofindia-economictimes. Articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com. Retrieved on 11 April 2016.
  27. ↑ "High Value paintings seized from Abhishek Verma farmhouse by ED".
  28. ↑ "Business Standard High Value Paintings seized news".
  29. ↑ "Abhishek Verma's high end watches seized".
  30. ↑ "Abhishek testimony to be recorded in Jagdish Tytler Sikh Riots case of 1984".
  31. ↑ "Tytler case news".
  32. ↑ "Amitabh Bachchan witness in Tytler case news".
  33. ↑ Abhishek Verma's universe of lust and lucre : Abhishek Bhalla, News – India Today. Indiatoday.intoday.in (29 July 2012). Retrieved on 2016-04-11.
  34. ↑ Arms dealers met Pallam Raju in 2011. Sunday-guardian.com. Retrieved on 11 April 2016.
  35. ↑ "Lord of War article THE WEEK Magazine India".
  36. ↑ "Lord of War news - Switzerland daily newspaper".
  37. ↑ "Lok Sabha nomination turned down by Abhishek Verma".
  38. ↑ "Abhishek Verma and Anca Neacsu arrested - Bucharest Herald".
  39. ↑ CBI books arms dealer Abhishek Verma under Official Secrets Act : North, News – India Today. Indiatoday.intoday.in (30 August 2012). Retrieved on 2016-04-11.

External links

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