Finmeccanica defends itself in helicopter sales to India
MILAN - Agence France-Presse
Italian aerospace and defense company Finmeccanica defended itself on Feb. 27 against press reports of corrupt dealings in the sale of helicopters to India by one of its subsidiaries.“Finmeccanica declares that AgustaWestland is not involved in any irregularity concerning the supply of helicopters in India,” the company said in a statement.
“No notice related to the purported investigations has been served to companies and officers of the Finmeccanica Group neither in Italy, nor in India,” it added.
Finmeccanica shares fall
Italian media reported that Indian authorities have opened an investigation into suspected corruption in the sale of 12 helicopters to India in 2010.
Shares in Finmeccanica fell by more than 6.0 percent after the reports.
They recovered slightly later in the session, but were still down 4.62 percent at 12: 30 GMT, while the market overall was down 1.55 percent.
Finmeccanica has been under a cloud of suspicion over corruption that helped force out its former chairman Pier Francesco Guarguaglini in December 2011 in a separate investigation over alleged tax fraud and bribes to politicians.
