Thread by @IndiaSolNW

"In 2016 France and India signed a deal for the purchase of Rafale jet fighters ... alongside this deal, Dassault also agreed to pay one million euros to a middleman..." [a thread...]
#humdohumaredokiloot
#Rafale
mediapart.fr/en/journal/int…

"...for 7.8 billion euros. To put this sum into context it is the equivalent of the annual gross domestic product of a country such as Benin in West Africa."

"There were, however, some problems that almost derailed the contract. In 2018 formal legal complaints were made about possible corruption and favouritism ... [but] preliminary proceedings in both France and India ended with no further action being taken."

"As they combed through the 2017 accounts the AFA (Agence Française Anticorruption) inspectors raised an eyebrow when they came across an item of expenditure costing 508,925 euros and entered under the heading “gifts to clients”. "

"To justify this larger than usual “gift” Dassault supplied the AFA with a “proforma invoice” dated March 30th 2017 which was supplied by an Indian company called Defsys Solutions... for the manufacture of 50 models of the Rafale"

"Dassault group was unable to provide the AFA with a single document showing that these models [each costed at 20 kEuros(!)] existed and were delivered... not even a photograph."

"...as Mediapart will show in the next part of the “Rafale Papers” investigation... ended up taking no further action. " STAY TUNED FOR PART II !!!