Swiss hand India more documents on Bofors affair

(AP) -- Switzerland has given India more bank documents for its investigation into alleged bribery in a $1.4 billion arms deal with Swedish manufacturer Bofors, officials said on Thursday.

(AP) — Switzerland has given India more bank documents for its investigation into alleged bribery in a $1.4 billion arms deal with Swedish manufacturer Bofors, officials said on Thursday.

The documents were handed over to the Indian Embassy on Wednesday after the Federal Department of Justice rejected an appeal from three Indian brothers who claimed that the release of documents would harm the national interests of Switzerland, the officials said.

The move follows by nearly three years the handover by Switzerland of “a large part” of the documents, mostly bank papers, relating to the 1986 scandal, said a statement by the department.

In the scandal, the now-defunct Bofors allegedly paid Indian politicians and officials more than $40 million in bribes to close the sale of 155mm artillery guns.

More than half the money was allegedly paid through Swiss banks, officials said.

The latest documents concern three Geneva bank accounts belonging to a Panamanian company controlled by one of the three brothers, officials said. About half of the bribery money allegedly went through the accounts. The brothers deny the money stems from bribes.

The department’s statement said the appeal offered no proof or even concrete evidence in support for the brothers’ arguments against the release.

It said the department, like the highest Swiss court in an earlier ruling, regarded the appeal as a tactic to delay the Indian investigation.