NEW DELHI: Union minister Smriti Irani on Wednesday asked the Congress to come clean on revelations of private investigator Michael Hershman, who has reportedly alleged that Rajiv Gandhi had pressured him to implicate V P Singh in an offshore Swiss account case.
Quoting media reports, Irani said that Hershman from the US-based private detective firm Fairfax claimed attempts of bribery and threat to life for investigating the Bofors bribery scandal that had rocked the Rajiv Gandhi government.
“Hershman has said that the then finance minister V P Singh had asked him to continue investigation in the Bofors case, during which he had come across incidents of a few accounts showing sudden deposits of high amounts. Afterwards, Hershman was asked by the government that V P Singh, when he had been shifted to defence ministry, be implicated in some offshore account case,” Irani alleged, while addressing the media at the BJP headquarters in Delhi.
Quoting Hershman’s revelations to media last week, the minister also claimed that a Pakistani businessman carrying a large suitcase had met Rajiv Gandhi. She said that the Pakistani businessman was the owner of BCCI (Bank of Credit and Commerce International) Bank, which had been involved in cases of money laundering.
Irani alleged that the bank, which had been shut down, was allowed to be opened. “Who was offering bribe? Why was the conspiracy hatched to implicate V P Singh?” asked Irani.