Finmeccanica chiefs get jail term, cleared of corruption charges

Reuters, Busto Arsizio, Italy October 9, 2014 (excerpts): An Italian court sentenced former Finmeccanica SpA chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) Giuseppe Orsi to two years in jail for falsifying invoices in a corruption case linked to an Indian deal, but cleared him of more serious corruption charges.

(Finmeccanica is the parent company of Ansaldo Breda and Ansaldo STA which are supplying rail cars and signaling systems for HART)

The trial revolved around a €560 million contract awarded to Finmeccanica’s AgustaWestland business in 2010 to supply 12 helicopters to the Indian government. Public prosecutor Eugenio Fusco had accused Orsi and former AgustaWestland head Bruno Spagnolini of paying tens of millions of euros to Indian officials including a former Air Force head through intermediaries and falsifying invoices to win the high-profile contract. (Don't worry.  They would never try this in a place like ... uh ... Honolulu.)

Spagnolini was also sentenced on Thursday to two years in jail on the false invoice charges, but acquitted of the corruption accusations.

“It’s the end of a nightmare,” Orsi told reporters after the court near Milan passed sentence at the end of a trial lasting more than a year. “We’ve always known that there hasn’t been any corruption.” ...  (LOL!)

The scandal has embarrassed New Delhi and tarnished Finmeccanica's reputation at a time when the Italian aerospace and defence group is carrying out a tough restructuring....

In August, the Italian prosecutor dropped a corruption case against Finmeccanica and agreed a 7.5 million euro settlement with AgustaWestland....

India is pushing ahead with a separate investigation into the scrapped contract with the Italian company....

The prosecutor said he would decide on whether to appeal once the details of the ruling are released. He had requested a six-year jail term for 68-year-old Orsi, who ran AgustaWestland before taking the top job at Finmeccanica in 2011, and a five-year sentence for Spagnolini, 63.

Read ... No Corruption, Just 'False Invoices', LOL

Meanwhile: Finmeccanica CEO says two bidders shortlisted for Ansaldo assets