NEW DELHI: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) said on Wednesday that it would look into the “facts and circumstances” of the Bofors scam as revealed by private investigator Michael Hershman. In a recent television interview, Hershman, President of US-based Fairfax Group who was entrusted with the Bofors probe, disclosed that the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi-led Congress government had scuttled his probe.
In a statement issued, CBI spokesperson Abhishek Dayal said, “The Agency has learnt about the matter pertaining to Bofors aired on a certain TV channel, containing the interview of Mr Hershman. Facts and circumstances as mentioned in the interview will be looked into as per due process by the CBI.”
Hershman, who was here last week to address a conference of private detectives, in the television interview claimed that Gandhi was ‘furious’ when he had unravelled a Swiss bank account titled ‘Mont Blanc’, which was related to the payoffs. Alleging that the bribe money of the Bofors gun scam had been parked in the Swiss account, he revealed that Gandhi was very upset with the probe by Fairfax.
Subsequently, he constituted a Supreme Court commission to look into the circumstances surrounding then finance minister V P Singh’s decision to hire Fairfax.In his interview, Hershman has expressed his willingness to testify and help Indian investigative agencies on the scam.