US jury indicts Congress Rajya Sabha MP in bribery conspiracy

Washington In an unprecedented case a Chicago jury has indicted a Congress party Rajya Sabha MP in an alleged international conspiracy to bribe state and central government officials in India to allow mining of titanium mineralsKVP Ramachandra Rao aka KVP and Dr KVP 65 a Rajya Sabha member from Andhra Pradesh was indicted by a federal grand jury in June 2013 along with an IndianAmerican businessman and four other foreign nationals the Justice Department announced WednesdayRao is described as a Member of Parliament in India who was an official of the state government of Andhra Pradesh and a close advisor to the nowdeceased chief minister of Andhra Pradesh YS Rajasekhara Reddy Also charged was Gajendra Lal 50 an Indian national and permanent resident of the US who formerly resided in WinstonSalem North CarolinaUnder the federal indictment unsealed on Wednesday excluding Rao five of the six defendants are also charged with conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act FCPA among other offensesAccording to the indictment beginning in 2006 the defendants allegedly conspired to pay at least USD 185 million in bribes to secure licenses to mine minerals in Andhra PradeshThe mining project was expected to generate more than USD 500 million annually from the sale of titanium products including sales to unnamed Company A headquartered in ChicagoAll six defendants were charged with one count each of racketeering conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy and two counts of interstate travel in aid of racketeeringOnly one defendant Dmitry Firtash aka Dmytro Firtash and DF 48 a Ukrainian national was arrested March 12 in Vienna AustriaHe was released after posting 125 million euros approximately USD 174 million bail and has pledged to remain in Austria until the end of extradition proceedingsFirtash allegedly controls Group DF an international conglomerate of companies that was directly and indirectly owned by Group DF Limited a British Virgin Islands companyThe indictment alleges the defendants used US financial institutions to engage in the international transmission of millions of dollars for the purpose of bribing Indian public officials to obtain approval of the necessary licenses for the projectFirtash allegedly met with Indian government officials including then chief minister Reddy to discuss the project and its progress and authorised payment of at least USD 185 million in bribes to both state and central government officials in India to secure the approval of licenses for the projectFirtash also allegedly directed his subordinates to create documents to make it falsely appear that money transferred for the purpose of paying these bribes was transferred for legitimate commercial purposes He appointed various subordinates to oversee efforts to obtain the licenses through briberyLal also known as Gaj allegedly reported to Firtash on the status of obtaining licenses and recommended whether and in what manner to pay certain bribes to government officialsThe indictment also alleges that defendant Periyasamy Sunderalingam aka Sunder 60 met with Rao to determine the total amount of bribes and advised others on the results of the meetingHe identified various foreign bank accounts held in the names of nominees outside India that could be used to funnel bribes to RaoRao allegedly solicited bribes for himself and others in return for approving licenses for the project and he warned other defendants concerning the threat of a possible law enforcement investigation of the projectThe indictment lists 57 transfers of funds between various entities some controlled by Group DF in various amounts totalling more than USD 1059 million beginning April 28 2006 through July 13 2010 The indictment seeks forfeiture from all six defendants of more than USD 1059 million