Abhishek Verma (arms dealer)

Abhishek Verma
Born (1968-02-23) February 23, 1968
New Delhi, India
Residence New Delhi, London, Bucharest
Nationality Indian
Education Masters in Political Science, Georgetown University
Occupation businessman & philanthropist
Organization Shrikant Verma Trust
Known for Arms Dealer and global weapons contractor
Home town New Delhi - India, London - UK
Spouse(s) Asmita Verma (married 1992-1996), Anca Verma (married 2006-present)
Parents

Abhishek Verma (born 23 February 1968 in New Delhi, India) is an arms dealer and was the main suspect in the Scorpene submarines deal, AgustaWestland VVIP helicopters bribery scandal and Navy War Room Leak Case.

Personal life

Verma's father, Shrikant Verma, was a leading journalist before Indira Gandhi brought him into the Congress Party and made him a member of the 1976 Indian Parliament.[1] From an early age, he[2] was exposed to the media in his public life due to the assistance he provided his father. His mother, Veena Verma, served for fourteen years as a Member of Parliament, and served the Congress Party as Vice-President, responsible for the Mahila Congress.[3]

In 2001, he was engaged to marry former Miss Greece and Miss Universe runner's up Evelina Papantoniou.[4][5] He was also dating Playboy center-fold Simone Cronstrand[6][7] prior to marrying 'Miss Romania', Anca Neacsu.[8][9]

Career

Verma was named the youngest billionaire of India in 1997 when he was only 28 years old.[10][11][12][13] He was Chairman of Atlas Interactive India Private Limited and signed an agreement with the Indian Government to run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited to provide the technology for 'netTV' (television through an internet connection) by 2004.[14] In 2011 Verma took over the reins of Olialia World[15][16] a multinational FMCG brand[17][18] as the Chief Evangelist of the group. In 2017 Verma was awarded the contract to construct & own Maldives International airport with an investment of US$500 million,[19] which would be known as Olialia International Airport for 50 years.[20][21]

Verma is the main witness in 1984 Sikh Riots genocide case against Congress Leader Jagdish Tytler. The courts in December 2015 directed the CBI to record his testimony as witness in this case against Tytler.[22][23] Due to high threat perception, Verma was granted round the clock 'Z' category protection by the Delhi Police on the orders of Delhi High Court.[24][25]

Verma's proximity to Varun Gandhi, scion of the Nehru–Gandhi family, was made public when explicit photos of Gandhi and Verma with European escorts were released to the news media in 2016 by social activist politician Prashant Bhushan. Gandhi and Verma denied the allegations and issued statements that the photos released by Bhushan were morphed.[26][27] Bhushan's allegations of Gandhi being blackmailed by Verma were also rubbished by Gandhi.[28][29]

In the international defence and armament companies circles Verma is known as the "Lord of War".[30][31] He was nominated to contest Lok Sabha parliamentary elections from Congress Party in 1996, which he turned down due to personal reasons.[32]

Abhishek Verma with his wife Anca Verma

Allegations of corruption and imprisonment

In 2006, Verma was accused by the opposition political party BJP of receiving kickbacks amounting to around US$200 million, through a US$4.5 billion Indian Military deal, as a consequence of the Indian government purchasing six Scorpène-class submarines from Thales. The BJP raised this in Parliament, pointing out his proximity to the Congress party, and alleged he had gained the agency to negotiate the contract with Thales as a result of bribing certain Congress Party politicians.[33][34][35]

Verma and Thales immediately denied all the allegations, and launched a lawsuit against The Outlook Magazine, which had been the first to break the story in February 2006. He also sued the former BJP Deputy Prime Minister of India, L. K. Advani, for criminal defamation; Advani had campaigned against Abhishek, demanding the Government charge the latter with corruption.[36]

In 2009 the Delhi High Court exonerated Verma when the Central Bureau of Investigation published their report into the allegations: they stated that the monies received by him was not a result of the submarine sale.[37] On 7 June 2012, CBI raided Verma's 10 premises and establishments in India after registration of cases of corruption and money laundering.[38][39]

In 2013, Verma was named a suspect in the 2013 Indian helicopter bribery scandal by the Indian Government for massive bribes exceeding Euros 50 million that were paid to Indian politicians including Sonia Gandhi as alleged by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy. Verma is suspected to have been the middleman in the chopper deal and the nexus was exposed by TimesNow TV with their global investigation.[40][41][42]

Due to various other arms deal-related cases that Verma and his wife are alleged to have been involved in, the government attempted to freeze their secret bank accounts in Liechtenstein, which are said to hold over US$500 million; however the Liechtenstein authorities rejected the Indian government's request to open the accounts in 2015.[43][44][45]

When Enforcement Directorate raids were carried out at Verma's residences, among the goods seized were 36 paintings, valued at over US$5 million[46][47] and high end designer watches worth US$1 million.[48]

In June 2012, Verma was arrested and charged with corruption and money laundering;[49][50] the trial commenced in December 2015.[51] In April 2017, a special court of CBI presided by Judge Anju Bajaj Chandana exonerated Verma and his wife Anca in the two cases of corruption and money laundering.[52][53]

References

  1. ↑ Magadh – Shrikant Verma : Small Press Distribution. Spdbooks.org (9 January 2013). Retrieved on 2016-04-11.
  2. ↑ The world of Abhishek Verma – Indian Express. Archive.indianexpress.com (22 July 2012). Retrieved on 2016-04-11.
  3. ↑ Delhi: Former MP Veena Verma's farmhouse burgled. Ndtv.com (3 December 2013). Retrieved on 2016-04-11.
  4. ↑ "Abhishek was to marry Evelina Papantoniou former Miss Universe".
  5. ↑ "Evelina & Abhishek newsarticle 2001 Outlook magazine".
  6. ↑ "Abhishek dating Simone Cronstrand in the past".
  7. ↑ "Photoshoot of Simone Cronstrand from Swedish website".
  8. ↑ Meeting of arms dealer's wife with defence ministry brass leaves govt red-faced – Times of India. Timesofindia.indiatimes.com. Retrieved on 11 April 2016.
  9. ↑ Arms dealer, wife have a jailhouse romance in Tihar | india. Hindustan Times. Retrieved on 11 April 2016.
  10. ↑ Kumar, Vinay; Mehdudia, Sujay (2012-05-31). ""Charges against Verma fabricated"". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2017-11-29.
  11. ↑ "Five Indian fugitives who are in exile abroad". Retrieved 2017-11-29.
  12. ↑ Nazeer, Ali. "Olialia investment in Maldives involves nothing unusual: says country partner". alinazeer.com. Retrieved 2017-11-29.
  13. ↑ "Panama Papers: The ghost of corruption will destabilise our country one day and then... - 1 - Star of Mysore". Star of Mysore. 2017-08-03. Retrieved 2017-11-29.
  14. ↑ New Delhi News : Atlas, BSNL tie up for `netTV'. The Hindu (13 June 2004). Retrieved on 2016-04-11.
  15. ↑ "Abhishek Verma: From defence to cola, film business". The Economic Times. 2016-11-06. Retrieved 2017-11-11.
  16. ↑ "I am determined to enter politics: Abhishek Verma". The Sunday Guardian. 2016-10-29. Retrieved 2017-11-11.
  17. ↑ McGuinness, Damien (2010-10-02). "'Blonde island' plan raises eyebrows". BBC News. Retrieved 2017-11-11.
  18. ↑ курс, The Baltic Course - Балтийский. "Olialia group sales doubled in 2009". The Baltic Course | Baltic States news & analytics. Retrieved 2017-11-11.
  19. ↑ "Maldives awards Olialia India, Abhishek Verma's firm to build international airport". www.newsleakcentre.com. Retrieved 2017-11-11.
  20. ↑ "Maldives 'invites' company of an arms dealer to construct international airport". Maldives Times. 2017-10-10. Retrieved 2017-11-11.
  21. ↑ "Maldives awards Olialia India, Abhishek Verma's firm to build international airport". www.newsleakcentre.com. Retrieved 2017-11-11.
  22. ↑ "Abhishek testimony to be recorded in Jagdish Tytler Sikh Riots case of 1984".
  23. ↑ "Tytler case news".
  24. ↑ ANI (2017-10-29). "1984 Anti-Sikh riots: Abhishek Verma receives 'death threats', files writ complaint with Police". Business Standard India. Retrieved 2017-11-29.
  25. ↑ "1984 riots: HC asks police to enhance Abhishek Verma's security - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 2017-11-29.
  26. ↑ "Defence leaks? Arms dealer Abhishek Verma rejects allegations against Varun Gandhi - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 2017-12-01.
  27. ↑ "EXCLUSIVE: Controversial arms dealer hints at Congress conspiracy against Varun Gandhi". Retrieved 2017-12-01.
  28. ↑ "I am determined to enter politics: Abhishek Verma". The Sunday Guardian. 2016-10-29. Retrieved 2017-12-01.
  29. ↑ "Varun Gandhi dismisses 'honey trapping' allegations : Was never 'blackmailed', never had important defence information - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 2017-12-01.
  30. ↑ "Lord of War article THE WEEK Magazine India".
  31. ↑ "Lord of War news - Switzerland daily newspaper".
  32. ↑ "Lok Sabha nomination turned down by Abhishek Verma".
  33. ↑ Sting Of The Scorpene. Outlookindia.com. Retrieved on 11 April 2016.
  34. ↑ Arms dealer Abhishek Verma, wife get bail:IBNLive Videos. Ibnlive.com. Retrieved on 11 April 2016.
  35. ↑ Former ‘partners’ accuse each other of fraud in massive defence deals. Sunday-guardian.com. Retrieved on 11 April 2016.
  36. ↑ Advani, arms dealer framed me in Scorpene deal: Abhishek Verma – India News – Webindia123.com. News.webindia123.com (24 March 2006). Retrieved on 2016-04-11.
  37. ↑ Money received by Abhishek Verma not related to Scorpene deal: CBI | Zee News. Zeenews.india.com (21 March 2009). Retrieved on 2016-04-11.
  38. ↑ "Video Abhishek Verma raided June 7, 2012".
  39. ↑ "Abhishek Verma raided June 7, 2012 - Times of India".
  40. ↑ "Abhishek Verma played middleman in AgustaWestland 12 VVIP helicopters bribery scandal 2013 news on TimesNow".
  41. ↑ "Times of India - AgustaWestland Scam news related to Abhishek Verma".
  42. ↑ "Abhishek Verma involvement in VVIP Helicopters - newsitem MINT newspaper".
  43. ↑ Submit proof to freeze Abhishek Verma's bank account, says Liechtenstein to ED – timesofindia-economictimes. Articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com. Retrieved on 11 April 2016.
  44. ↑ Setback for ED probing Abhishek Verma's foreign bank accounts : North, News – India Today. Indiatoday.intoday.in (16 November 2014). Retrieved on 2016-04-11.
  45. ↑ Swiss authorities refuse to share information on Abhishek Verma – timesofindia-economictimes. Articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com. Retrieved on 11 April 2016.
  46. ↑ "High Value paintings seized from Abhishek Verma farmhouse by ED".
  47. ↑ "Business Standard High Value Paintings seized news".
  48. ↑ "Abhishek Verma's high end watches seized".
  49. ↑ "Abhishek Verma and Anca Neacsu arrested - Bucharest Herald".
  50. ↑ CBI books arms dealer Abhishek Verma under Official Secrets Act : North, News – India Today. Indiatoday.intoday.in (30 August 2012). Retrieved
  51. ↑ "Court puts Jagdish Tytler, Abhishek Verma on trial in cheating case - The Economic Times". The Economic Times. December 9, 2015.
  52. ↑ PTI (2017-04-26). "Court discharges Abhishek Verma in graft case". The Economic Times. Retrieved 2017-06-06.
  53. ↑ Kumar, Nirnimesh. "Court discharges Abhishek Verma, wife in graft cases". The Hindu. Retrieved 2017-06-06.
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