Italy ex-execs acquitted in India chopper bribery case

ROME, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- Two ex-executives at the Italian aerospace and defence conglomerate formerly known as Finmeccanica have been acquitted of international corruption charges, local media reported.

Finmeccanica, which has been renamed Leonardo, is a publicly traded company that is 30 percent owned by the Italian Treasury.

Ex-Finmeccanica CEO Bruno Orsi and co-defendant Giuseppe Spagnolini, formerly the CEO of Finmeccanica subsidiary AugustaWestland helicopter manufacturer, were accused of bribing top Indian officials in order to obtain a 556-million-euro contract for 12 helicopters.

Finmeccanica won that contract in 2010, and the two Italian executives were arrested after an investigation in 2013.

AgustaWestland reached a plea deal in 2014, with the state confiscating 7.5 million euros from the company, according to ANSA news agency.

The two former executives had been found guilty and sentenced to four-year prison terms for corruption and falsifying invoices, but in December 2016 Italy's highest court had ordered a re-trial of the case.

They were cleared due to insufficient evidence on January 8 in Milan, ANSA news agency reported Monday.

The case is also being prosecuted in India by that country's Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the New Indian Express reported Tuesday.

The CBI has filed charges against Orsi, Spagnolini, former Indian Air Force chief S.P. Tyagi, three more Indian officials, and three European alleged middlemen in the bribery case, the Indian newspaper reported. Enditem