Paying bribe Finmeccanica ex-CEO’s biz philosophy?

New Delhi: Paying kickbacks was allegedly the “business philosophy” of former Finmeccanica CEO Giuseppe Orsi who has been arrested for his role in the VVIP choppers scam for giving bribes to secure the Rs 3,600 crore deal.

Giuseppe, who has now been removed from his position after his arrest, had also asked his press secretary to reportedly pay money to engage 20 journalists for 30-40 months for improving the image of the company during the ongoing investigations, the report filed by Italian investigators said.

Giuseppe reportedly considered paying kickbacks as “business philosophy” and believed that he could have the prosecutor removed by attempting to bribe newspapers with “a million euro” for a print campaign compliant with Finmeccanica for improving the firm’s image, the report suggested.

Meanwhile, Delhi-based lawyer Gautam Khaitan, whose name has also surfaced in the deal, denied having played any role in the whole episode. He said he was doing the legal work for the firm Aeromatrix, which is owned by one of the alleged middlemen Haschke, in Chandigarh.