![]() | A major contributor to this article appears to have a close connection with its subject.(May 2016) |
Abhishek Verma | |
---|---|
| |
Born | New Delhi, India | 23 February 1968
Nationality | Indian |
Occupation | Arms dealer |
Organization | Shrikant Verma Trust |
Known for | Being the prime suspect in Scorpene deal scam |
Spouse | |
Parents |
|
Abhishek Verma (born 23 February 1968 in New Delhi, India) is an Indian billionaire [1] arms dealer globally known as the 'Lord of War' [2] [3] [4] and was the main suspect in the Scorpene Submarines deal scandal but was exonerated by Indian Courts in 2015. [5] [6]
Verma's father, Shrikant Verma, was a leading journalist before Indira Gandhi brought him into the Indian National Congress party (INC) and made him a member of the 1976 Indian Parliament. [7] From an early age, he [8] was exposed to the media in his public life due to the assistance he provided his father. His mother, Veena Verma, served for fourteen years as a Member of Parliament, and was Vice-President of the INC, responsible for the Mahila Congress. [9]
In 2001, Verma was engaged to marry Evelina Papantoniou, a former Miss Greece and runner-up in the Miss Universe competition. [10] He was also dating Playboy center-fold Simone Cronstrand [11] prior to marrying Anca Neacsu former Miss Romania. [12] [13]
Verma 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. [14] In 2011 Verma took over the reins of Olialia World [15] a multinational FMCG brand [16] as the Chief Evangelist of the group. In 2017 Verma was awarded the contract to construct & own Maldives International airport with an investment of US$500 million, [17] which would be known as Olialia International Airport for 50 years. [18]
In May 2019 a controversy erupted in Maldives when photos of Verma were published with President Mohammed Nasheed who is the Chairman of MDP Party in Maldives. Verma threatened to sue the columnist Bushry associated with the newspaper One Online causing uproar in Maldives. [19] [20]
Verma is the main witness in 1984 anti-Sikh riots against Congress leader Jagdish Tytler. The courts in December 2015 directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to record Verma's testimony as witness. [21] Due to the high threat perception, Verma was granted round the clock 'Z' category Delhi Police protection and paramilitary forces on the directions of Delhi High Court. [22] [23]
Verma's proximity to Varun Gandhi, scion of the Nehru–Gandhi family, was made public when explicit photos of Gandhi and Verma with European escorts were released to the news media in 2016 by social activist politician Prashant Bhushan. Gandhi and Verma denied the allegations and issued statements that the photos released by Bhushan were morphed. [24] [25] Bhushan's allegations of Gandhi being blackmailed by Verma were also rubbished by Gandhi. [26]
Verma was nominated to contest Lok Sabha parliamentary elections from Congress Party in 1996, which he turned down for personal reasons. [27]
In 2006, Verma was accused by the opposition Bharatiya Janata 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 his proximity to the Congress party, and alleged he had gained the agency to negotiate the contract with Thales as a result of bribing certain Congress politicians. [28] [29] [30]
Verma and Thales immediately denied all the allegations, and launched a lawsuit against The Outlook Magazine , which had been the first to break the story. He also sued the former BJP Deputy Prime Minister of India, L. K. Advani, for criminal defamation; Advani had campaigned against Verma, demanding the Government charge the latter with corruption. [31]
In 2015 the Delhi High Court exonerated Verma when the CBI published their report into the allegations: they stated that the monies received by him was not a result of the submarine sale. [32] On 7 June 2012, CBI raided Verma's 10 premises and establishments in India after registration of cases of corruption and money laundering. [33] [34]
In 2013, Verma was named a suspect in the 2013 Indian helicopter bribery scandal by the Indian Government for massive bribes exceeding €50 million that were paid to Indian politicians including Sonia Gandhi as alleged by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy. Verma is suspected to have been the middleman in the chopper deal and the nexus was exposed by TimesNow TV with their global investigation however he was acquitted by the Indian Courts in April 2017. [35] [36] [37]
Due to various other arms deal-related cases that Verma and his wife are alleged to have been involved in, the government attempted to freeze their secret bank accounts in Liechtenstein, which are said to hold over US$500 million; however the Liechtenstein authorities rejected the Indian government's request to open the accounts in 2015. [38] [39] [40]
When Enforcement Directorate raids were carried out at Verma's residences, among the goods seized were 36 paintings, valued at over US$5 million [41] [42] and designer watches worth US$1 million. [43]
In June 2012, Verma was arrested and charged with corruption and money laundering; [44] the trial commenced in December 2015. [45] In April 2017, a CBI special court exonerated Verma and his wife from all the allegations and charges. [46] [47]
Rajiv Gandhi was an Indian politician who served as the 6th Prime Minister of India from 1984 to 1989. He took office after the assassination of his mother, then–prime minister Indira Gandhi, to become at the age of 40 the youngest Indian prime minister. He served until his defeat at the 1989 election, and then became Leader of the Opposition, Lok Sabha, resigning in December 1990, six months before his own assassination.
The Bofors scandal was a major weapons-contract political scandal that occurred between India and Sweden during the 1980s and 1990s, initiated by Indian National Congress politicians and implicating the Indian prime minister, Rajiv Gandhi, and several other members of the Indian and Swedish governments, who were accused of receiving kickbacks from Bofors AB, an arms manufacturer principally financed by the Wallenberg family's Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken, for winning a bid to supply to India their 155 mm field howitzer. The scandal relates to illegal kickbacks paid in a US $1.4 billion deal between the Swedish arms manufacturer Bofors with the government of India for the sale of 410 field howitzers, and a supply contract almost twice that amount. It was the biggest arms deal ever in Sweden, and money marked for development projects was diverted to secure this contract at any cost. The investigations revealed flouting of rules and bypassing of institutions.
Rheinmetall Air Defence AG is a division of German armament manufacturer Rheinmetall, created when the company's Oerlikon Contraves unit was renamed on 1 January 2009 and integrated with Rheinmetall's other air-defence products. Oerlikon Contraves was a Swiss anti-aircraft artillery manufacturer famous for its adaptation of the 1916 20 mm Becker as the Oerlikon 20 mm autocannon design, which was used in the Second World War and still in use today. Copies and derivatives of these designs were made by German, French, British, and Japanese weapon manufacturers. Oerlikon Contraves was purchased by Rheinmetall in 1999.
Tihar Prisons, also called Tihar Jail and Tihar Ashram, is a prison complex in India and one of the largest complex of prisons in India. It has 9 functional prisons spread over more than 400 acres. Run by Department of Delhi Prisons, the prison contains nine central prisons, and is one of the three prison complexes in Delhi. The other two prison complexes are at Rohini and Mandoli with one and six central prisons respectively. Tihar prison complex is located in Janakpuri, approximately 3 km from Tihar village in West Delhi.
Jagdish Tytler is an Indian politician and former Member of Parliament. He has held several government positions, the last being as Minister of State for Overseas Indian Affairs, a post from which he resigned after publication of a report by an official commission of inquiry, known as the Nanavati Commission. The commission had accused that he had a hand in organizing attacks on the Sikh community in Delhi after Sikh bodyguards assassinated the Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi, during the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. He has been charged with crimes related to those riots by CBI who filed a chargesheet against Jagdish Tytler on May 20, 2023.
Suresh Nanda is an Indian businessman and former officer in the Indian Navy. He is the chairman of the Claridges Group of Hotels and ran Dynatron Services, an engineering firm before entering into the hospitality sector.
The 1984 anti-Sikh riots, also known as the 1984 Sikh massacre, was a series of organised pogroms against Sikhs in India following the assassination of Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards. Government estimates project that about 2,800 Sikhs were killed in Delhi and 3,350 nationwide, whilst other sources estimate the number of deaths at about 8,000–17,000.
Lt. Commander Ravi Shankaran (RETD) is a decorated ex Indian Naval clearance diving officer who is allegedly now an arms dealer and is the prime accused in a case of military espionage for commercial purposes which has international implications. Shankaran was a London-based NRI business man and is the only one to have escaped the dragnet of the Income Tax, CBI and Interpol for his role in masterminding now what is known as the Navy War Room Leak Case.
The Scorpene deal scam was an Indian bribery scandal, in which USD 175 million were alleged to have been paid to government decision makers by Thales. Defence minister Pranab Mukherjee had approved a deal to build Scorpène-class submarines worth US$3 billion with Thales, France in October 2005. The investigating agency, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), found no evidence of corruption in the deal in 2008. Scorpène-class submarines are now being built in India under a technology transfer agreement that was part of that contract.
Also referred to as the AgustaWestland VVIP chopper deal, the Indian helicopter bribery scandal by Congress led UPA Government refers to a multimillion-dollar corruption case in India, wherein money was paid to middlemen and Indian officials in 2006 and 2007 to purchase helicopters for high level politicians. As per the CBI, this amounted to ₹2.5 billion (US$30 million), transferred through bank accounts in the UK and UAE.
The defence industry sector of India is a strategically important sector in India. India has one of the world's largest military forces with a strength of over 1.44 million active personnel. It has the world's largest volunteer military of over 5.1 million personnel. The total budget sanctioned for the Indian military for the financial year 2021 is ₹4.78 lakh crore. It has the third largest annual defence budget behind USA and China. It is the second largest defence importer behind Saudi Arabia making up 9.2% of global arms import. India has a domestic defence industry of which 60% is government owned. The public sector includes NTRO, CSIR, PRL, DRDO and its 50 labs, 4 defence shipyards, 12 defence PSUs. India has a new defence procurement, acquisition and manufacturing policy to reduce imports and enhance domestic manufacturing.
Aman Lekhi is a senior advocate of the Supreme Court of India and is the former Additional Solicitor General of India in the Apex Court. He is named in the list of Top 100 Legal Luminaries of India by LexisNexis in May 2016.
Alok Kumar Verma is a former Director of the Central Bureau of Investigation in India, who also served as Commissioner of Delhi Police and Director General of Tihar Jail. A 1979 batch IPS officer of the Arunachal Pradesh-Goa-Mizoram and Union Territories cadre, Verma has over 39 years of experience in the Indian Police Service (IPS).
Anca Verma is a Romanian model and businesswoman. She is married to billionaire Abhishek Verma.
Shrikant Verma was an Indian poet and a Member of Parliament from Madhya Pradesh as an INC candidate from 1976 to 1982 and 1982 to 1986. Verma died of cancer in 1986 in New York.
Veena Verma was an Indian politician who was a member of parliament from Madhya Pradesh as an Indian National Congress candidate. She was elected to the Rajya Sabha for three consecutive six-year terms, from 1986 to 2000. She served as the Deputy Chairman of Committee of Parliament on Official Language and also as the Vice-president of All India Mahila Congress and the Indian Council of World Affairs.
Chowkidar Chor Hai is a Hindi slogan used by the Indian National Congress (INC) in its election campaign for the 2019 Indian general election. The slogan was coined by the then INC president, Rahul Gandhi, against the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) affiliated sitting Prime Minister Narendra Modi, after raising allegations of favouritism and price escalation in the Dassault Rafale deal. The slogan was coined with the intention of conveying that the person who was entrusted with safeguarding public money was in fact a thief; context being that PM Modi had in past claimed to be a "chowkidar" of the country.
Veena Birbal is a former judge of the Delhi High Court in India, and the former president of the Delhi State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission. She has adjudicated in a number of significant Indian cases concerning criminal offences and corruption, including the Scorpene deal scam, the 2G spectrum case, the Nitish Katara murder case, and the Uphaar Cinema Fire litigation.
Vipin Kumar Khanna was an Indian businessman, financier and army officer. Khanna had diverse business interests. He founded Dynamic Sales Service International, a commodities trading and marketing company, which further expanded into railways, infrastructure, telecommunications equipment, shipbroking, fast-moving consumer goods and additional industries. Khanna also had other business interests, which included interests in the arms, aerospace, software, investment banking, hospitality, real estate, alcohol and drinks industries. He was a Non-Resident Indian based in London, England, and also had a base in Delhi, India.