MILAN (Reuters) -An Italian appeals court has fully acquitted an Italian-American consultant who had previously settled a charge of international corruption in a case related to a 2010 helicopter contract between defence company Leonardo and the Indian government.
According to the ruling reviewed by Reuters, the appeals court in the northern city of Brescia upheld a review request filed by Guido Ralph Haschke, revoking the plea bargain and acquitting him “because there was no case to answer”.
Haschke, 73, a U.S. and Italian citizen living in Switzerland and an international consultant with a background as a World Bank executive, agreed to a plea bargain of one year and 10 months during the first trial in 2014 after being accused of being a middleman in the alleged corruption.
The case was a big political issue in Italy and India when it opened in 2012 and tarnished the company’s reputation at a time when India had established itself as one the world’s biggest arms buyers.
Sentences of under two years for people with a previous clean record are conditional in Italy and do not result in time behind bars.
Italy’s Supreme Court in 2019 acquitted the defendants in the case, two former executives of the Italian state-controlled defence group previously known as Finmeccanica.
That prompted Luca Lauri, Haschke’s lawyer to initiate the appeal proceedings that led to a ruling late on Monday, in which, according to a statement released by the law firm, the consultant was accorded “the broadest possible acquittal”.
Haschke had told Reuters in 2014 that his plea bargain was not an admission of responsibility but a “technical decision to avoid years of trials”.
The case revolved around corruption allegations related to a contract worth 560 million euros ($660 million) to supply a dozen helicopters to the Indian government.
The deal between the defence group and India was subject to international arbitration which ended in 2019, effectively cancelling the contract.
($1 = 0.8467 euros)
(Reporting by Emilio Parodi, additional reporting by Giulia SegretiEditing by Keith Weir and David Evans)
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